Blue Moon: Book One: Untold Secrets
by Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan
Summary: It's a moon after the battle with the dark forest but the memories are still fresh. Life goes on in all the clans but is there room for one more clan? Three kits have been born, destined to save a clan, but not their own? Read as they discover theirselves and their destinies. Rated 'T' because of battles and just because it's Warriors.
1. Allegiances and Prologue

Allegiances

**THUNDERCLAN**

Leader Bramblestar – dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy Squirrelflight – dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Medicine Cat Jayfeather – grey tabby tom with blind blue eyes

Warriors  (toms and she-cats without kits)

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom

Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom

Cloudtail – long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Thornclaw – golden brown tabby tom

Leafpool – light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes,

former medicine cat

Spiderleg – long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and

amber eyes

Birchfall – light brown tabby tom

Whitewing – white she-cat with green eyes

Berrynose – cream-coloured tom

Hazeltail – small grey-and-white she-cat

Mousewhisker – grey-and-white tom

Cinderheart – grey tabby she-cat

Poppyfrost – tortoiseshell she-cat

Lionblaze – golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Foxleap – reddish tabby tom

Icecloud – white she-cat

Toadstep – black-and-white tom

Rosepetal – dark cream she-cat

Briarlight – dark brown she-cat

Blossomfall – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Bumblestripe – very pale grey tom with black stripes

Dovewing – pale grey she-cat with blue eyes

Ivypool – silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

Cherryflower – ginger she-cat

Molespots – brown-and-cream tom

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Sorreltail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes

(mother to Lilykit, a dark tabby she-kit with white patches, and

Seedkit, a very pale ginger she-kit)

Brightheart –white she-cat with ginger patches she-cat (mother to Snowkit,

a white tom with amber eyes, Dewkit, grey tom with amber eyes, and Amberkit,

a pale grey she-kit with white paws, a white muzzle, a white right ear and amber

eyes)

Daisy – cream long-furred cat from horseplace

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Greystripe – long-haired grey tom

Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Millie – striped grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Purdy – plump tabby former loners with a grey muzzle

**SHADOWCLAN**

Leader Blackstar – large white tom with jet-black paws

Deputy Rowanclaw – ginger tom

Medicine Cat Littlecloud – very small tabby tom

apprentice, Berrypaw (a mottled grey she-cat)

Warriors Toadfoot – dark brown tom

Applefur – mottled brown she-cat

Crowfrost – black-and-white tom

Ratscar – brown tom with a long scar running down his

back

Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

apprentice, Shadepaw (pale grey tom with dark paws)

Olivenose – tortoiseshell she-cat

Owlclaw – light brown tabby tom

Shrewfoot – grey she-cat with black feet

Scorchfur – dark grey tom

Ivytail – black, white and tortoiseshell she-cat

Tigerheart – dark brown tabby tom

apprentice, Snowypaw (small white she-cat)

Dawnpelt – cream-furred she-cat

Ferretclaw – cream-and-grey tom

Starlingwing – ginger tom

Queens Kinkfur – tabby she-cat with long fur that sticks out at all

angles

Snowbird – pure white she-cat, expecting Crowfrost's kits

Pinenose – black she-cat (mother to Smallkit, Ravenkit and

Thornkit)

Elders Snaketail – dark brown tom with tabby-striped tail

Whitewater – white she-cat with long fur, blind in one eye

Smokefoot – black tom

WINDCLAN

Leader Onestar – brown tabby tom

Deputy Ashfoot – grey she-cat

Medicine Cat Kestrelflight – mottled grey tom

apprentice, Larkpaw (dark grey she-cat)

Warriors Crowfeather – dark grey tom

Owlwhisker – light brown tabby tom

Gorsetail – very pale grey-and-white tom with blue eyes

apprentice, Quickpaw (dark brown she-cat)

Weaselfur – ginger tom with white paws

Harespring – brown-and-white tom

Leaftail – dark tabby tom with amber eyes

Emberfoot – grey tom with two dark paws

Sedgewhisker – light brown tabby she-cat

apprentice, Tinypaw (very pale grey she-cat)

Sunstrike – tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on

her forhead

Whiskernose – light brown tom

Furzepelt – grey-and-white she-cat

Boulderfur – large pale grey tom

Crouchfoot – black tom

Queens Swallowtail – dark grey she-cat (mother to Emberfoot's kits,

Rabbitkit, Strongkit and Mudkit)

Heathertail – light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes,

expecting Harespring's kits

Elders Whitetail – small white she-cat

Tornear – tabby tom

RIVERCLAN

Leader Mistystar – grey she-cat with blue eyes

Deputy Reedwhisker – black tom

Medicine Cat Mothwing – dappled golden she-cat

apprentice, Willowshine (grey tabby she-cat)

Warriors Mintfur – light grey tabby tom

Icewing – white she-cat with blue eyes

apprentice, Cloudypaw (grey-and-white she-cat)

Minnowtail – dark grey she-cat

Pebblefoot – mottled grey tom

apprentice, Goldenpaw (pale ginger she-cat)

Duskfur – brown tabby she-cat

Mallownose – light brown tabby tom

apprentice, Littlepaw (tortoiseshell she-cat)

Robinwing – tortoiseshell-and-white tom

Grasspelt – light brown tom

apprentice, Rapidpaw (pale brown-and-white tom)

Hollowflight – dark brown tabby tom

Mossyfoot – brown-and-white she-cat

apprentice, Rainpaw (dark grey she-cat)

Rushtail – light brown tabby tom

Heronbeak – brown tabby tom

Queens Petalfur – grey-and-white she-cat (mother to Robinwing's

kits, Morningkit, Shadekit, Duck-kit and Pikekit)

Troutstream – pale grey tabby she-cat, expecting

Hollowflight's kits

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

(mother to Swankit and Sandykit)

Elders Greymist – pale grey tabby she-cat

Dapplenose – mottled grey she-cat

Pouncetail – ginger-and-white tom

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**PROLOGUE**

"Spottedleaf!" the she-cat called out, "Where are you! I need you!" but there was not a soul to answer the brown-and-cream tabby's desperate cries, not even an echo.

The pretty she-cat hadn't expected the gentle former ThunderClan medicine cat to answer her pleas; Spottedleaf hadn't visited the brown-and-cream she-cat for a while now.

The she-cat let out a heavy sigh, her restless amber gaze shifting to the starless sky above. Although she knew this was just a dream, there was something about it that unnerved her. She knew her clan was crumbling around her, she didn't need her warrior ancestors to tell her.

Feeling lost and alone, she sat down at the edge of the clearing and stared down at her paws. She felt totally and utterly helpless.

Staring around her she noticed that there was a very distinct scent in the air. She frowned and inhaled the fresh forest scent. _ThunderClan._

"How did ThunderClan scent get here," she muttered, dusting a small leaf off her dull brown-and-cream pelt, "They live in the forest, not my dreams."

Then the idea hit her, "ThunderClan! I must find Firestar!" she suddenly meowed. _He saved us once, he can save us again._ Suddenly feeling a huge weight having lifted from her shoulders, she smiled warmly at nothing in particular.

"Perhaps there is hope for my clan after all."

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**First part! Woo! Sorry for such a short prologue, anyway, please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

**I do not own Warriors and I am not Erin Hunter. xD I wish I was though (don't we all?).**


	2. Chapter One: Sandstorm's Story

**Thank you to my two reviews! It means a lot! Anyway, here's the first chapter, enjoy!**

**Warriors (c) Erin Hunter**

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**_Amberkit's Point Of_ View...**

"Cherrypaw, from this day you shall be known as Cherryflower! StarClan honours your speed and intelligence!" Bramblestar touched noses to the young ginger she-cat, amber eyes filled with pride in his clan. Cherryflower's brother, Molespots, sat beside her having already received his warrior name. Both were ecstatic and their parents looked like they might burst with pride.

Amberkit watched with eager amber eyes and nudged her brother beside her, "That'll be us someday!" she hissed quietly as not to be heard by any others.

Dewkit stared at her, but there wasn't the same unblinking eager look in his eyes, instead he just looked... Well, bored.

"Cherryflower! Molespots! Cherryflower! Molespots!"

Amberkit sighed; why did her brother have to be so boring! Snowkit was the same as her, eager to be a warrior. He flanked her other side, sitting bolt upright with amber eyes wide as pools, but Dewkit just seemed uninterested.

Amberkit had asked him if this was because he wanted to be a medicine cat, but the grey tom had deemed that idea ridiculous, calling sick cats 'gross'.

The clan began to break away and Amberkit looked up to see Brightheart had joined them, "Come on you three, into the nursery."

Snowkit and Amberkit groaned whilst Dewkit remained silent, "The nursery is boring!" Snowkit protested, darting away from his mother.

Brightheart sighed; Whitewing had never been this hard! The senior warrior had already decided that once her troublesome kits were made apprentices, she would move into the elders' den. She had spoken with Cloudtail and he agreed, they were getting on in moons and Greystripe and Sandstorm had recently retired as well, so they wouldn't be alone.

"Why don't you go an visit the elders and see if they'll tell you a story?" she suggested, collapsing into her mossy nest which had recently been attended to by Cloudtail to make sure it was extra comfy.

Both Snowkit's and Amberkit's eyes lit up, "Okay!" the two bounded away, Dewkit following at a more steady pace. Brightheart was glad to have a few moments peace away from her three kits and quickly sank into a deep sleep.

"I wonder what story Purdy will tell us today?" Amberkit pondered out loud, amber eyes gleaming as they made for the elders' den.

Snowkit rolled his eyes, "Purdy's tales are just over exaggerated and boring, Sandstorm is the best story teller."

Amberkit didn't get the chance to reply because they had reached the entrance to the elder's den. The twosome peered into the dim of the den only to find they weren't the only ones who had decided to visit the elders. _Lilykit?_

The dark tabby and white she-kit was usually with her sister, Seedkit, play fighting or trying to sneak out of camp, Amberkit had never known Lilykit to visit the elders for a story.

Lilykit and Seedkit were a few days away from their apprentice ceremony, Lilykit being the more excitable of the two would usually never dream of visiting the elders den.

Amberkit ran ahead of Snowkit and quickly joined Lilykit. Greystripe appeared to be just finishing a story, "-And then we heard cats mewing, so we crossed onto the island using the tree bridge and there they were!"

The solid grey tom looked pleased to have finished his story. It sounded like it was the one about how he and Millie returned to the clans.

His mate sat beside him, curled up in her nest, but watching Lilykit and Amberkit with warm blue eyes, "Why are you in here? Where's Seedkit?" Amberkit whispered to Lilykit, amber eyes aglow.

Lilykit stared down at her paws, "She grazed a paw when we tried to climb out of camp yesterday so she can't play for a few days," she mewed, amber gaze dull.

Amberkit gave her friend a playful nudge, "She'll get better soon and before you know it you'll be apprentices and get to do hunting and fighting instead of playing!" she mewed, jumping from paw to paw. He eyes flitted to Sandstorm, who was resting at the back of the den.

Snowkit had just entered the den, Dewkit shortly behind him. Amberkit rolled her eyes, _Dewkit doesn't even like listening to the elders' stories, why did he even bother coming?_

But when the grey tom-kit approached her and Lilykit, she managed to force a smile, "C'mon, let's go ask Sandstorm for a story, seeing as you think she's the best story teller."

Snowkit grinned triumphantly and darted after his sister in the direction of the pale ginger she-cat. Sandstorm could be very grumpy, everyone knew that, and she was still grieving from Firestar's death, but telling the kits of the clans stories seemed to lift her heart.

Upon seeing the three kits bounding (with the exception of Dewkit) towards them, she sat up in her den, green eyes suddenly alert.

"Have you come for a story?" she asked, gazing fondly at the three kits. _Brightheart and Cloudtail's kits._ She realised with a purr.

Snowkit and Amberkit both nodded eagerly whilst Dewkit managed to force out a, "I guess."

Sandstorm smiled, tucking her tail around her paws. She leaned closer to the three kits, "Have I told you the story of the lost clan?" she asked, green eyes aglow.

_The lost clan? _Amberkit was intrigued, _But hang on, there are only four clans, not including StarClan? _She fixed the old ginger she-cat with a confused stare.

Snowkit too seemed a little confused, but at least he managed to speak, "Y-yes please, Sandstorm."

Dewkit didn't reply at all, instead staring down at his paws. _Grumpy old mouse-brain._ Amberkit thought, she ignored the grey tom-kit from then on.

Sandstorm cleared her throat, and letting her green gaze sweep over the three kits, she meowed, "Once, when the clans lived in the forest there were five clans," she began, "Many moons ago this was, before great Bluestar was even a twinkle in her father's eye, before Firestar set foot in the forest. The fifth clan went by the name of SkyClan," she noticed the kits excited gazes, "And before you ask, no, they did not live in the sky, nor did they fly. Anyway," she coughed, "SkyClan lived where the twoleg place was, until of course the twolegs came and started building on their territory. The clan begged the other clans to give up a little bit of land each so that they may continue to live in the forest, but the other clans were selfish and argued they couldn't give up any land for they had many mouths to feed. And so, SkyClan were driven out of the forest."

Snowkit and Amberkit exchanged shocked glances. Lilykit, who seemed to have heard a little of the story had now joined the three kits and was fixing Sandstorm with wide amber eyes.

"SkyClan travelled for several moons until they reached the gorge," she smiled, "The cats settled there, caves were used as dens and there was plenty of prey. The clan was happy, until the rats came."

Sandstorm paused to look every kit in the eye. Amberkit held her breath, "What happened next?" she asked, her voice scarcely a whisper.

The pale ginger elder purred, "I'm glad you asked Amberkit," she leaned in close to the four kits, "There were many rats, thousands, more than you can imagine and whenever the SkyClan warriors set paw near them they were attacked. Many lives were lost and the SkyClan cats began to live in the fear of the rats, who were smaller than them!"

Her words hung in the air for a while before Sandstorm spoke again, "They tried, the SkyClan warriors, but there were just too many rats," her green gaze turned wistful, "And so the clan disbanded, many became kittypets, others loners and rogues."

Sandstorm's green gaze suddenly became a lot brighter, "And that's where Firestar and I came in, many seasons later after the disbanding of SkyClan," she looked fondly upon the gathered kits, "Firestar received a dream, asking him to return SkyClan and so we went on our journey. We were separated a few times, but we found the gorge in the end and there we found Skywatcher."

Sandstorm went on to explain all about how they had recovered SkyClan, how they had found Leaf, a rogue, who went on to become Leafstar, the leader. She told them about Echosong, a kittypet who received strange dreams of cats with starry pelts.

They were told of how they defeated the rats, despite the loss of Rainfur, and all the while, Amberkit listened intently with pricked ears and wide amber eyes.

"-And that is how SkyClan became again," Sandstorm rasped, a gleam in her green eyes. She seemed proud to have finished her tale, it obviously meant a lot to her.

Amberkit turned to Snowkit, amber eyes aglow, "I'd like to visit SkyClan one day," she whispered.

The white tom-kit grinned, "Me too."

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**Well, what did you think? Reviews would be appreciated, I'll update quicker if I get more reviews. ^^ Thanks for taking the time to read this!**


	3. Chapter Two: A Little Game

**Next chapter already? -shocked face- I'm writing this faster than I expected to. ^^ Anyway, onto my reviewers...**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thanks. I wanted to include Sandstorm 'cause I've always had a soft spot for her. :) I'm already writing the next chapter, so hopefully that'll be up soon. And same, I've always been intrigued by Snowkit, Dewkit and Amberkit.**

**Warriors (c) Erin Hunter**

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**_Snowkit's Point Of View._**

Snowkit leapt on top of Dewkit, a blur of white and grey fur, "Gotcha Dew!" his attempted deep yowl turning coming out as a high pitched squeal. The young tom-kit had thought that his brother was beaten, but in fact, that was just Dewkit's tactic.

"Oh, really?" the grey tom jumped out from under Snowkit, amber gaze triumphant. He darted away from the white tom-kit and paused to recover for second before he was back in action.

Snowkit, a little dazed from what had just happened found himself under attack again. Dewkit had leapt onto his shoulders and was batting at Snowkit's ears.

"DEWKIT! GET OFF YOUR BROTHER RIGHT NOW!"

Dewkit relaxed his grip and leapt off his brother easily. Snowkit breathed a sigh of relief to see it was his mother. The ginger patched white she-cat looked very stressed, her fur was dull and patchy in places. Snowkit frowned, getting to his paws.

"Look," Brightheart meowed a little softer, amber gaze restless, "Why don't you go and find Amberkit, I believe she's with Seedkit and Lilykit," she licked her two kits softly upon the cheek and gently pushed them out into the clearing.

Snowkit, unfazed by this, let his amber gaze rake through the clearing for the familiar pelts of Seedkit. Lilykit and Amberkit.

A grey-and-white pelt quickly caught Snowkit's amber eyes. He grinned, _Found you Amberkit._ Amber eyes blazing, he dropped into a crouch and slunk forward, keeping to the shadows of the dens.

"-you're so lucky, any day now you'll be an apprentice, I have to wait for four more moons." Snowkit just managed to catch the end of what his sister was saying before he jabbed her sharply with a large, clumsy paw, "BOO!"

Amberkit almost jumped out of her pelt! Snowkit grinned triumphantly, glancing over his shoulder to see that Dewkit had also seen their sister's shocked expression and was just about refraining from giggling.

It seemed Purdy had also seen Snowkit's little surprise attack, but he looked far from amused. The tabby former loner was no longer the plump, friendly tom since the battle against the dark forest, in fact he was quite the opposite. Mousefur's death seemed to have really shaken him and he could often be found outside the elders' den, staring blankly at nothing, as he was today.

Snowkit frowned, _What could be up with Purdy? _He couldn't remember Mousefur very well for he had only been a half moon old when she'd died. That also meant he was unaware of the close friendship that the dusky brown elder and the plump tabby had shared.

"Hey!" Snowkit was awoken from his thoughts by a loud mew and a paw roughly prodding his side. _Amberkit._

He shook away the thoughts on Purdy and instead turned his thoughtful amber gaze to Amberkit, "Sorry, Momma said that Dewkit and I should play with you guys," his gaze flitted from Seedkit, to Lilykit and back again to Amberkit, "So what are you doing?"

Amberkit watched her brother suspiciously, "You're not going to sneak up on me again are you?" she asked.

Snowkit laughed, "No! I can't sneak up on you now, I'm right next to you, mousebrain," he teased, grinning at the grey patched white she-kit.

Amberkit smiled, "I guess not," her amber gaze returned to Seedkit and Lilykit, "We were talking about being a warrior and stuff," she informed her brother, "Bramblestar has said that Lilykit and Seedkit will be made apprentices soon!"

Snowkit eyed the two other kits enviously, "I wish we were being made apprentices right now," he sighed, "When I'm an apprentice, I'm going to bring back so much prey, that we won't need to hunt for moons!" he boasted.

Dewkit seemed to have finally joined the four kits, having heard they were talking about being warriors, "That's nothing," he scoffed, "I'm going to be like Lionblaze, I'll never get hurt in battle and I'll defend ThunderClan against all the other lousy clans, single-pawed!"

Amberkit rolled her eyes, "As if."

Seedkit and Lilykit seemed a little put off by the two tom-kits' bragging, "You're moons away from being apprentices, let alone warriors," Lilykit pointed out.

"Why don't we prepare for being warriors now then?" Dewkit challenged. He sat up a little taller, amber gaze shifting from the other kits to the dirt-place tunnel, "We could sneak out of camp, catch some prey and then show it to Bramblestar, he'll have to make us apprentices at least!"

Amberkit glanced around nervously, "Won't we get in trouble, and then Bramblestar might delay our apprentice ceremony!"

Snowkit, on the other paw, said nothing. It was a ridiculous idea; they would most likely never even get out of camp for they would be spotted, and even if they did get out into the forest, they would never catch any prey.

"Can't we just play or something? We'll be going out into the forest as apprentices soon anyway," Seedkit meowed, raising her voice a little.

Amberkit, Snowkit and Lilykit all nodded eagerly. Seedkit grinned, "Let's play battle of the clans! I'll be Seedclaw!" she announced, "ThunderClan's loyal deputy!"

Lilykit took her turn to claim a position next, "I'm Lilystar, leader of ThunderClan!"

"Hey!" Amberkit whined, "You took the good parts."

Seedkit rolled her eyes at this, "You'll just have to be the leader of another clan," she meowed, no sympathy in her voice.

The grey-and-white she-kit sighed, "I'll be Amberstar, leader of RiverClan."

Snowkit was next to pipe up, "And I'll be Snowstar, the brave and strong leader of ShadowClan!"

Lilykit nodded to each of the kits, and in an attempt to sound older, meowed in a deep voice, "Let the battle begin! ThunderClan against RiverClan and ShadowClan! FIGHT!"

And that was it, the kits began to lunge at each other. Snowkit leapt at Seedkit; of her and Lilykit, he knew she was the weaker fighter.

"Oof!"

Seedkit hadn't been expecting to be launched at by the fluffy white tom and let out a gasp of surprise as the air was knocked out of her. Snowkit grinned to himself and began batting at Seedkit's legs, hoping to make her stumble, but the pale ginger she-cat had excellent balance and shook of this attack.

"Feel my claws you ShadowClan mousedung!" she grabbed hold of Snowkit's short, fluffy tail and began ripping away at it with her short, blunt claws. Snowkit stumbled backwards a little; he hadn't been expecting that!

They continued to battle, none of them having noticed that they had left someone out. Dewkit.

The large grey tom was no longer sitting in the sidelines, watching as they played, but gone.

"ThunderClan win!" Lilykit yowled triumphantly, grinning widely. The kits broke away from their little playfight.

Although Snowkit hadn't won, he was still pleased at the outcome of the game. ThunderClan always won, rather obviously, for they were the best clan and so the young white tom was happy. At least until Amberkit meowed, "Hey, where's Dewkit?"

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**Thanks for reading! I'll add the next chapter when I get to 15 reviews! Please let me know how this is going, constructive critiscm would be helpful if you can offer it. ^^**


	4. Chapter Three: An Adventure

**I lied; I said I'd update at 15 reviews, I've only got 5. xD Please tell your friends about this story, I've worked so hard on it and I'd love more reviews. Anyway, here you are, Chapter Three! Enjoy and please review, I love to hear what you think. ^^**

**Warriors (c) Erin Hunter**

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"Stupid games," Dewkit grumbled as he hurried away from the four other kits. As much as the dark grey tom loved fighting, he hated the stupid games that the other kits would play.

"They always leave me out anyway," he realised he had reached the dirt-place tunnel, unspotted. He smiled with satisfaction to himself, briefly glancing over his shoulder to check no one had followed him.

_All clear._

The young grey tom was shaking with excitement he realised. _Better go before I'm spotted, _he reminded himself and with a flick of his fluffy, dark grey tail, he disappeared out through the dirt-place tunnel.

_Urgh, It stinks!_

Dewkit wrinkled up his nose in disgust and tried to ignore the awful scent (which was easier said that done). But as soon as the grey tom-kit took his first step into the forest, those thoughts on the smell disappeared.

"Woah," It was so _big_! Dewkit couldn't quite contain his excitement, he wasn't usually one to get excited, unlike Amberkit. Staring up at the tall trees, eyes wide with awe, he forgot to look where he was stepping and tripped over a tree root.

_Well, that's a good start. _Shaking off his stumble, he got to his paws again and began to wander forward, his amber gaze was restless, there was so much to take in!

Dewkit realised his mouth had been hanging open and swiftly shut it. That was then he scented it. _Prey._

The dark grey tom was too young to identify what creature the prey was, but he decided to go after it anyway, "So," he pondered out loud, "How do warriors find where prey is?"

He sat and thought about it for a second. He seemed to remember it being something to do with scenting it, _But how can you tell where something is by scent?_

That was a question that the young kit honestly couldn't answer; he would have to wait until he was an apprentice. The dark grey tom walked for a bit, trying to follow the scent of prey, but if anything it was getting fainter.

The trees where he was now were a little different to the trees that had been where he'd first emerged into the forest. They were tall and thin with strange leaves.

There was a different scent in the air too and it didn't smell good. It was like rotting prey, yeuck!

"HEY! What do you think you're doing on ShadowClan territory!" a loud voice snarled.

Dewkit looked up, amber eyes wide with fear. _ShadowClan? _A patrol of warriors stood before him. The one who had spoken was a black-and-white tom, but he was joined by a ginger tom and a tortoiseshell she-cat.

Unable to speak, Dewkit just stared up at the three cats, rooted to spot in fear.

"Come on, Crowfrost, it's obvious he's just a kit," the tortoiseshell she-cat whispered to the black-and-white tom, "Probably just strayed from camp, that's all."

Crowfrost scoffed.

The tortoiseshell she-cat leant down so she was at Dewkit's height, her eyes were soft and friendly, "Hello there, I'm sure you've just got lost, is that right?"

Dewkit nodded slowly, but mewed, "I'm not lost, I wanted to leave camp."

The she-cat nodded, her green eyes sympathetic, "I'm sure, but this is ShadowClan territory, would you like us to take you back to your camp?"

As much as the dark grey kit hated the idea of being helped by ShadowClan warriors, he nodded slowly. He was so _tired._

"Poor little scrap," the ginger tom mewed, voice scarcely a whisper, "I wouldn't want one of my kits lost in ThunderClan territory."

Tawnypelt nodded solemnly, addressing Dewkit once more, "Come on, we'll take you home."

"I can't believe you left camp! I thought you were joking!"

Dewkit blinked calmly at Amberkit, "I don't joke," he meowed simply, returning to washing his dark grey pelt. It was the day after his little expedition into ShadowClan territory and he was actually kind of enjoying all the attention he was getting.

_Yes_, his mother had scolded him harshly and made him promise never to do it again, but it had actually been kind of fun.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highledge for a clan meeting!"

Bramblestar's loud yowl prevented Amberkit from making any further comments. Dewkit yawned, flicked a scrap of moss out of his pelt and followed Amberkit out of the den.

_Probably time for Lilykit and Seedkit to be made apprentices, _he guessed. And it seemed his assumption was correct; both Lilykit and Seedkit were already out in the clearing, their pelts immaculately groomed.

The cats were beginning to gather around the Highledge, where Bramblestar sat proud beside his deputy, Squirrelflight. _This must be the first apprentice ceremony he's done, _Dewkit realised. Bramblestar had only been leader for a moon, but to the young kit, it felt like he'd been around forever.

Once all the cats had gathered, the dark brown tabby leader began to speak, "Young cats are the lifeblood of the clan, they are our warriors of the future, and we are gathered today to make two new apprentices," he began, he nodded to Lilykit and Seedkit, "Lilykit, step forward."

The dark brown tabby she-cat stepped forward, amber eyes wide with awe and excitement. Dewkit noticed she was trembling as well.

"Lilykit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Lilypaw," Bramblestar announced, touching noses to the excited young apprentice. He sat up, letting his amber gaze rake the gathered cats for her chosen mentor, "Toadstep, you are ready for an apprentice."

The black-and-white warrior looked up, amber eyes lit up with surprise, "W-who, me?" he stammered, quite unable to believe he had just been assigned an apprentice.

Bramblestar smiled, amber eyes glowing, "Yes, you received excellent mentoring from Cloudtail and have shown yourself to be strong and kind, I expect you to pass on these qualities along with all you know to Lilypaw."

Having finally taken in that he was now a mentor, Toadstep padded forward to greet his new apprentice by touching noses to the brown tabby and white she-cat, "I'll make sure you're the best you can be," Dewkit heard him whisper.

Lilypaw nodded, her amber eyes wide and small chest puffed out in pride. But Bramblestar had already moved onto the next ceremony, "Seedkit, step forward."

Seedkit was much quicker to react than her sister. She looked calm and composed, her pale ginger fur glossy, though it still had that kitten like fluff.

"Seedkit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Seedpaw," he turned his gaze to the gathered cats once more, "Ivypool, you proved yourself a worthy warrior of ThunderClan," he meowed, referring to when the warrior had fought against the dark forest, "You will be Seedpaw's mentor. You have proven yourself to be loyal and determined, I expect you to pass on everything you know to Seedpaw."

Ivypool looked pleasantly surprised, a smile spreading across her face as she stepped forward to touch noses to her new apprentice.

"Lilypaw! Seedpaw! Lilypaw! Seedpaw!"

Dewkit didn't join in the cheering however. _That should be me, I should be up there._

The clan was starting to break away when a voice rose from above the crowd, "Wait! We have an announcement!"

Many eyes turned to see that it was none other than Lionblaze who had spoken. The golden tabby warrior stood beside his mate, Cinderheart, and both looked _very _happy.

_What're those two lovey-dovey warriors so pleased about?_

"Yes, Lionblaze?" Bramblestar responded with a rather quizzical mew, it seemed that he didn't even know what the announcement was about.

Cinderheart took a deep breath, glancing sideways at her mate with loving blue eyes, "I am expecting Lionblaze's kits!"

Mews of congratulations arose from the ThunderClan warriors. Dewkit scoffed. _Queens just take up space._ His amber gaze returned to the Highledge and Bramblestar, _I want to be a warrior now and I don't care what stands in my path!_

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**Thanks for taking the time to read this. ^^ What do you guys think of Dewkit, love him? Hate him? Not sure? Please review and let me know.**


	5. Chapter Four: Apprentices

**Well, chapter four is up! Hope you like it, it's quite an interesting one. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own warriors (as much as I'd love to).**

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**Amberkit's P.O.V.**

"We're going to be apprentices! We're going to be apprentices!" Amberkit mewed excitedly, dancing around her mother's paws. Finally, the three kits had reached their sixth moon and Bramblestar had promised to make them apprentices today.

There was that sense of relief for Brightheart. _No more having sleeping the nursery with excited kits who talk through the night, no more having to keep an eye on them._ She loved her kits and she had loved every moment of being a warrior, but she just had to accept that she was getting old.

_My last day as a queen, then I become an elder._ She sighed, amber eyes falling upon the three kits who were excitedly leaping around her paws.

Amberkit nudged Snowkit, "I wonder who our mentors will be?" she whispered, amber eyes aglow in the dim light. The white tom-kit thought for a while, "I don't know, but I want Brackenfur to be my mentor, he seems like a great warrior!"

Amberkit nodded, thinking to herself about who she'd like her mentor to be. She didn't really mind if she was perfectly honest, so long as she didn't get an arrogant mouse-brain like Berrynose, "Any warrior can be my mentor, so long as they are nice and not arrogant or mean."

Snowkit nodded, his amber gaze thoughtful. He turned to Dewkit, "Who do you want your mentor to be?"

The dark grey tom-kit thought for a second, then shrugged. Amberkit sighed, _Why does our brother have to be so grumpy all the time?_ The grey-and-white she-kit did love her brother, but he was just so... distant. He rarely played, stating that their games were 'boring' and 'kit-ish'.

"Let all cats-" Amberkit didn't need to hear the end of Bramblestar's words. Amber eyes alight with excitement, she darted out of the den ahead of her two brothers.

Bramblestar stood proud on the Highledge, Squirrelflight by his side as usual. _Do they every leave each others' side?_

The cats were gathering fast; swarming to the Highledge like moths to a light. _The whole clan have come to watch! _She realised with glee, "C'mon Snowkit and Dewkit!" she called to the two tom-kits behind her.

Amberkit sat down immediately below the Highledge and beckoned for Snowkit and Dewkit to join her. Brightheart emerged from the den and joined Cloudtail, who was sitting behind his three kits, blue eyes brimming with pride.

Amberkit was bristling with excitement. Bramblestar cleared his throat, "We have amongst us three new apprentices," he began, his deep voice ringing out through the clearing, "Snowkit, Dewkit and Amberkit."

The kits stepped forward and by now even Dewkit couldn't contain his excitement and appeared to be shivering despite the warm new-leaf weather.

Bramblestar smiled at the kits' enthusiasm, "Snowkit, from this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Snowpaw."

The dark brown tabby tom sat up, his amber eyes easily picking out a white-furred she-cat, "Icecloud," he meowed loud and clear, "You know only too well how hard hunting can be with such a bright pelt, I expect you to pass on all your knowledge to Snowkit."

Icecloud hadn't quite expected the honour of getting an apprentice, her blue eyes disbelieving as she touched noses to her new apprentice, "I'll do my best, Bramblestar."

Snowpaw seemed utterly delighted at having received the exciteable white she-cat as his mentor. She was a worthy warrior and had been mentored by Whitewing and Brackenfur after Whitewing had moved to the nursery expecting Birchfall's kits.

"Amberkit."

The grey and white she-cat looked up, amber eyes wide with awe, _I'm going to be an apprentice!_ she thought excitedly, struggling to keep still by now.

Bramblestar let out a rumbling purr at the kit's enthusiasm, "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Amberpaw."

Amberpaw let out a shriek of excitement. Several laughs arose from her clanmates and the grey and white she-cat suddenly felt very self-conscious and shrunk back a little.

"Do not be embarrassed small one," Bramblestar whispered softly before rising up once more, his amber gaze seeking out her chosen mentor, "Sorreltail, you are long overdue an apprentice and I _know _you'll pass on all your knowledge to Amberkit."

The tortoiseshell-and-white warrior had been waiting for this day for many moons and finally it had come. Blinking proudly, Sorreltail rose to her paws and padded forward to touch noses with her apprentice.

Amberpaw was smiling so wide that she was a little worried her face might stretch. _I'm an apprentice! _She wanted to tell everyone, even StarClan, _I'm an apprentice, I'm Amberpaw!_

Sorreltail smiled warmly at Amberpaw's enthusiasm. It reminded her much of herself when she'd been an apprentice; she sighed fondly at the memories.

The ceremony wasn't over yet though, there was still one kit left to be apprenticed and he was waiting very patiently.

"Dewkit, from this day forward, until your receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Dewpaw," the dark brown tabby tom paused to touch the tip of his tail gently to the new apprentice's shoulder in encouragement. Bramblestar sat up tall, amber eyes seeking out the pelt of Dewpaw's chosen pelt amongst the gathered cats below, "Birchfall, it's time you received an apprentice."

Amberpaw smiled; Bramblestar had chosen a worthy warrior to mentor her somewhat grumpy brother. But it seemed that the dark grey apprentice wasn't happy with his leader's choice and wore a frown.

"Birchfall, you have proven you are a true warrior of ThunderClan-" Bramblestar's mew was interrupted by Dewpaw's furious hiss.

"Him! He's no loyal ThunderClan warrior!" Amberpaw and Snowpaw exchanged shocked looks, "He betrayed his clan against the dark forest! He's not fit to be a mentor!"

Several shocked mews arose from the gathered cats. Whitewing seemed particularly upset and drew closer to her mate. But it was Birchfall himself who was the most affected.

The light brown tabby's amber eyes were swimming with hurt and he hung his head low, staring down at his paws. Amberpaw knew he had struggled after the battle to regain his clanmates' confidence and trust and now it was all gone again.

"Dewpaw! How dare you!" Brightheart swiped at her son's ears with unsheathed claws. The clan seemed quite unable to believe what they were seeing. Amberpaw couldn't believe what her brother had just said, nor could she believe that her mother had attacked him!

Dewpaw sat, completely unfazed despite the blood trickling down from his ears, in fact he seemed quite proud to have attained his first injury.

Bramblestar's pelt was clearly ruffled from Dewpaw's hurtful comment and with a flick of his tail, meowed, "Clan meeting dismissed," the broad-shouldered tom leapt down from the Highledge and nodded to Jayfeather, "See to Dewpaw's injuries, then send him to my den."  
The blind medicine cat nodded and ushered the dark grey apprentice away to his den. Bramblestar, clearly disappointed in the newly made apprentice, hurried away to talk to Squirrelflight who looked equally upset.

Amberpaw was still quite unable to believe what her brother had just done.

"Amberpaw."

The grey and white she-cat looked up to see Sorreltail, peering down at her with caring amber eyes, "I was wondering whether you'd like to see ThunderClan's territory?"

Amberpaw's eyes instantly lit up; this was just what she needed to take her mind off Dewpaw. She nodded eagerly, "Yes please!"

Sorreltail purred, "Come along then small one!" and they disappeared out of the thorn barrier, her apprentice hot on her heels.

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**Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! Seeing only five reviews makes my heart sink and when my heart has sunk, I kill good cats for no reason, and you wouldn't want that would you? -watches Greystripe with evil eyes-**

**Anyway, what do you think of Dewpaw? Love him? Hate him? I feel sorry for Birchfall, poor thing.**


	6. Chapter Five: The Sky

**Authors notes: Well, here we have chapter five! Thank you for all the review by the way, I really value my reviewers and readers, it means a lot to me so please, REVIEW!**

**Oh, and also, I would never kill Greystripe, I just said that to get y'all to review. xD I'm so evil.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, as much as I wish I did, Erin Hunter does.**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

"Snowpaw, wake up!"

The white-furred apprentice jolted awake to find himself in an unfamiliar surroundings. _Where's Brightheart? and Dewkit and Amberkit?_ He frowned, only to realise that he was no longer Snowkit but Snow_paw_.

He grinned, _Finally, an apprentice!_ He and Amberkit had made their nests in the Apprentices' Den the previous night and though the white tom kit had been longing to be apprentice, he suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed at waking up in a completely new den.

Stretching his weary limbs, he realised it had been Icecloud who had woken him. The snow-white she-cat was waiting outside the entrance to the Apprentices' Den to be joined by her new apprentice so that they could get out training.

_Training! _He thought with glee. The nests all around him were empty, apart from Seedpaw's. _Amberpaw must already be out there._ He realised.

Yawning, he made his way towards the exit of the den and sat beside his mentor, greeting her with an enthusiastic, "Morning."

Icecloud blinked warmly at her apprentice and nodded to the warrior who sat beside her. _Ivypool, _he soon realised, "We'll be starting out with battle training today with Ivypool and Seedpaw today," the white she-cat explained.

"_What?_" Snowpaw squeaked, quite unable to believe what he'd just heard, "But she's been training for four moons! She'll easily beat me!"

Icecloud let out a rumbling purr, "Which is why we're training with her, you watch her and Ivypool demonstrate some techniques, it's much easier to try something once you've seen how it's done," the white warrior told him, "Now, go and wake her!"

Snowpaw nodded nervously, _Battle training? _Icecloud had already shown him the territory after their apprentice ceremony the previous day; he had expected to be learning something like hunting today, not something fast-paced like battle training!

Retreating to the den, he made his way over to where the pale ginger she-cat was sleeping. He prodded her side gently and whispered quietly, "Seedpaw, time to wake up, you and I are going to be doing battle training together."

Seedpaw slowly roused, blinking open surprisingly bright green eyes, "Battle training?" she yawned, getting to her paws, "Sounds fun."

Seedpaw followed Snowpaw out of the den to join the two waiting mentors. Ivypool smiled upon seeing that her apprentice had decided to wake up and meowed, "We're going to be battle training," she explained to Seedpaw in case Snowpaw hadn't been told, "Seedpaw, you and I will demonstrate some moves to Snowpaw and then you and Snowpaw can perhaps try paired fighting."

Seedpaw nodded calmly, briefly stretching out in the early morning sunshine. Icecloud purred, "Let's get moving then," she flicked her tail, beckoning for them to follow, before disappearing through the Thorn Barrier.

Snowpaw grinned; he didn't need an invitation to follow, although he'd already been out into the forest, he still found the whole experience exciting.

Ivypool and Icecloud were eager to get to the sandy hollow quickly and so there was no time to admire the surroundings like Snowpaw had hoped they'd be able to, so instead, he decided to try and make conversation with Seedpaw.

"So, have you done much battle training yet?" he asked the pretty light ginger she-cat.

Seedpaw blinked warmly and nodded, "I've done quite a few battle training sessions," she meowed, "But I'm better at hunting, I think."

Snowpaw smiled at her honesty, "Well, you're already much better than me at battle training, this'll be my first session."

The light ginger she-cat nodded, ears pricked forward to the two mentors. She motioned for the white-furred apprentice to listen.

Snowpaw did as she suggested and tuned in his ears to Ivypool and Icecloud's conversation.

"-He's a great cat, I sure wish I could find someone like that." That was Icecloud Snowpaw realised. Ivypool seemed so... _happy._

"I know right! He's so brave and strong... He wouldn't like someone like me," the silver-and-white tabby she-cat stared down at her paws.

"I'm sure he does and-" Icecloud stopped. She seemed to have noticed the two apprentices were listening in on their conversation, "Eavesdropping, I see?"

Snowpaw shrunk back in embarrassment, "Sorry, it's just... quiet." He still didn't quite understand what the two warriors had been talking about, but he quickly shook off the thoughts at Icecloud's next words.

The white warrior rolled her eyes, muttering something briefly about nosy apprentices before meowing,"Right then, we'll get started then shall we?"

The snow-furred apprentice nodded eagerly, sitting up tall with pricked ears. _Battle training! This could be fun!_

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

Dewpaw couldn't believe it. After being sent to Jayfeather to have his ears looked at, he'd been sent to Bramblestar who had then told him that as a punishment for his rude comment, he'd been confined to camp for a moon.

And so, here he was, searching the elders for ticks. Greystripe let out a groan as Dewpaw found a small tick and cracked it between his teeth, "That one's been bothering me for moons!"

Dewpaw winced at the sour taste of the creature, but swallowed it. _Tastes a bit like mouse I suppose._ He yawned, having realised that his check over Greystripe was complete.

The dark grey tom had already checked Millie and Purdy. _Just Sandstorm, Brightheart and Cloudtail left _he thought with a sigh. His parents had moved into the elders' den the previous day, just after his and his littermates' apprentice ceremony. Dewpaw had never really thought of his parents as old and them retiring to the Elders' Den was a real wake up call to him.

"You're done now, Greystripe," he meowed gruffly as he stepped away from the solid grey tom. Greystripe purred a, "thank you," before returning to Millie's side.

_Now for Sandstorm._ Resisting the temptation to run out of the den and away from all these boring chores and explore the forest further, he moved along to the pale ginger elder.

_I'll have my time, one day._

**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

"Well done, Snowpaw!" Icecloud mewed encouragingly, blue eyes bright, "That was excellent, considering this is your first battle training session!"

The snowy white tom shrunk back a little shyly, but his amber eyes glowed with pride, "R-really?"

Icecloud nodded, but the words the snowy-white apprentice heard next sounded nothing like the exciteable warrior.

_"Find the sky." _Snowpaw frowned and stared at his mentor blankly, "Huh? What did you just say?" had Icecloud really just said that? He hadn't seen her lips moving and the voice he'd heard sounded nothing like her, but it couldn't have been Ivypool or Seedpaw for they were fighting on the other end of the clearing.

Icecloud stared at her apprentice as if he was mad, "I didn't say anything," she told him, blue gaze puzzled and fixing Snowpaw with a confused expression.

Snowpaw shook his head, looking away, "I must've just imagined it," he muttered.

_"The sky! You must find the sky!"_

The white-furred apprentice looked up at the clouded blue sky, amber gaze puzzled. He knew now that it wasn't Icecloud, but it couldn't be just in his head, could it?

"Find the sky," he muttered to himself thoughtfully. _Whatever could it mean?_

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**Please, please, please review! It means a lot to me. If your favourite character of the three is Amberpaw, put £ in your review, If your favourite is Snowpaw, put ! and if it's Dewpaw, put ?**


	7. Chapter Six: The Stranger

**Thank you for all your support guys! Especially Oakheart12, FlyingOranges76 and Hannah! Next time I'll reply to reviews personally here, but right now I'm tired so yeah...**

**Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter (not me), all the characters but Orange/Orangepaw belong to Erin Hunter and Orange/paw belongs to FlyingOranges76. ^^**

**Please read and review! I'll update quicker if I get more reviews. :)**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

It was a pleasant day, warm but not hot. Green-leaf was no longer a distant memory and it was late New-leaf.

It was exactly a half moon since Dewpaw and his littermates had their apprentice ceremony and exactly a half moon since the dark grey tom had been confined to camp.

So, with no chores left to do, Dewpaw was making the most of the peace and sunshine and lying in the warm sunlight. It was quiet in camp today; Poppyfrost and Berrynose too were making the most of the sun and lay a few tail-lengths away where they were sharing tongues.

Two cats who Dewpaw had not expected to see, however, were Ivypool and Toadstep. The two similar aged warriors were talking, their pelts close to touching.

Ivypool was unusually... happy. It wasn't that the silver-and-white tabby she-cat was unhappy most of the time, Dewpaw had just never seen her so happy.

_I'll never be like that, _he vowed to himself silently as his dark amber gaze turned to Poppyfrost and Berrynose, _I'll never be that engrossed in a she-cat that I can no longer perform my duties to the best of my abilities._

Stretching out in the sunlight, Dewpaw had just settled with his head on his paws when he heard a sharp mew.

"Dewpaw!"

The dark grey tom groaned. It was Squirrelflight, the deputy. Blinking open one eye, he stared up at the ginger she-cat, "What is it?" he hissed, "Can't I get a minute's peace?"

Squirrelflight flattened her ears at his harsh mew, "You sound like Jayfeather," she chuckled to herself, before addressing the tom again, "Bramblestar has decided that you've spent enough time moping around camp, your moon's confinement to camp has been cut short," she informed him.

Dewpaw sat up, amber eyes a little brighter, but not a word slipped from his jaws.

"You should count yourself lucky," Squirrelflight continued, "And if I were you, I would make the most of this opportunity and try to make an effort to be nice to Birchfall."

Dewpaw rolled his eyes, but nodded reluctantly. Squirrelflight smiled and with a flick of her tail, padded away to go and share tongues with Bramblestar.

_What is it? Lovey-dovey warriors day?_

But not even this could bring Dewpaw down for too long now. Shaking a scrap of moss from his dark grey pelt, his amber gaze scoured the camp for the light brown form of Birchfall, and upon finding it, he bounded off in his direction.

**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

_Three. Two. One. POUNCE!_

Amberpaw lurched forwards, a flurry of grey and white fur. She landed clumsily upon her prey, a brown mouse, killing it with her weight, rather than her intended sheathed claws.

Sorreltail managed to ignore this fact however, congratulating her apprentice, "Nice catch," she meowed warmly, "You overestimated how far you would need to jump which is why it was a little messy, just keep that in mind for the future."

Amberpaw nodded, relieved that her mentor hadn't scolded her like she thought she would. Sorreltail wasn't like that the grey-and-white she-cat had come to realise, and she was glad of it.

They weren't supposed to be hunting; Amberpaw and her mentor were on a border patrol with Dustpelt and Blossomfall, but the young she-cat had spotted the mouse and decided to take a chance.

Whilst Amberpaw buried her prey, Dustpelt decided to go ahead. The dark brown tabby had been very distant since his mate's death in the battle five moons ago and on patrols and when out hunting, he preferred to be without company.

The senior warrior should have retired to the Elders' Den moons ago, but he refused; he had always been stubborn, or so Greystripe had told Amberpaw.

Blossomfall and Sorreltail however had the courtesy to wait for the six-and-a-half moon apprentice, which Amberpaw was very glad of. The grey-and-white she-cat was still getting to know ThunderClan's territory and she didn't want to get lost (she could be very forgetful).

"So," Blossomfall meowed casually, breaking the silence, "Let's go and see where Dustpelt's wandered off to," her next words weren't intended to be heard, but Amberpaw had sharp hearing and so she managed to pick up her scarce whisper, "He should've retired seasons ago."

Sorreltail led the way through the trees in the direction Dustpelt had set off in. From the way her amber eyes darted around anxiously, Amberpaw could tell that she thought the senior warrior had probably got himself into a little trouble. He was an accident just waiting to happen Cloudtail had told her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THUNDERCLAN TERRITORY, YOU MANGY ROGUE!"

Amberpaw suddenly looked up from her paws upon hearing Dustpelt's familiar raspy yowl. Sorreltail began to pick up the pace whilst Blossomfall muttered under her breath, "_He, _of all cats, had to be the one to find the rogue, didn't he?"

They emerged into a small clearing and there was Dustpelt, dark brown pelt bristling and amber eyes filled with rage. His gaze was fixed on a cat, a rogue or a loner, Amberpaw didn't know.

She was an orange tabby she-cat with white paws, muzzle, belly, chest, paws and tail tip. Her eyes were a vibrant lime green colour.

"What's going on here?" Sorreltail mewed calmly, letting her neck fur lie flat. The strange cat didn't look the sort to attack, certainly not now.

"This rogue," Dustpelt spat, "Is on our territory!"

Sorreltail met her clanmate's angry amber gaze with her own calm amber one, "I can see that Dustpelt," her attention turned to the she-cat, "Well? Do you have an explanation for this?"

The orange tabby she-cat nodded, "My name is Orange," she meowed confidently, her curious green eyes sweeping over the cats before her.

Amberpaw sniggered, _Orange! What sort of name is that! _Sorreltail gave her a stern look and immediately the grey and white she-cat fell silent.

Orange began to speak again, "I am a loner, but a few moons ago I came to live at the upwalkers' barn, or the horseplace I believe you call it?"

Blossomfall nodded to confirm this.

Orange smiled, "As I was saying, I've always loved excitement and the idea of living together with other cats and working as a team, and well, Floss, a cat at the barn, told me of the clans," she explained, "She said her friend, Daisy I believe, came to one of the clans so that her kits would be taken care of," she stared at the ground, "And I was wondering whether you could do the same for me?"

Sorreltail stared at the slender she-cat before her, "You have kits?" she meowed in disbelief.

Orange shook her head, "Oh no! I don't have kits, I just love the idea of living together in a clan," her vibrant green eyes settled on Sorreltail, "This is the thunder clan, right?"

Amberpaw's mentor laughed, "Yes! Of course, ThunderClan," she glanced at Blossomfall and Dustpelt, "I guess we'll take you to Bramblestar, he can decided what to do with you."

Orange nodded. Amberpaw spotted the nerves in the way that the orange tabby walked. _I don't blame her, I'd be nervous to._

Sorreltail began to lead the way, but Blossomfall quickly fell in beside the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, "I'll bring up the rear, keep an eye on her, you know, just in case she tries something," she muttered as un-noticeably as possible.

Sorreltail nodded subtly before motioning to her apprentice to come over. Amberpaw stared at Sorreltail blankly, but obeyed.

"I want you to talk to Orange," she explained, "Try and get her feeling a little less nervous."

Amberpaw stared at her mentor, amber eyes filled with dismay. _Really? Try to make friends with a loner? _She sighed, "Sure."

The grey-and-white apprentice dropped behind so she was walking next to Orange, "Err, hi."

The orange tabby she-cat stared down at her, "Hello," she meowed simply. Amberpaw couldn't help but notice how strong and powerful this she-cat was; her muscles, though abnormally large, rippled as she walked, her strides were huge too!

Realising that she hadn't replied yet, Amberpaw stammered, "I-I'm Amberpaw, I'm training to be a warrior!"

Orange pricked her ears at the word _warrior._ Amberpaw knew she'd gotten the loner intrigued, but before she could explain more the realisation hit her that they were about to enter camp.

"No words about Orange to anyone," Sorreltail hissed, "It's up to Bramblestar to decide her fate."

Amberpaw nodded, amber eyes briefly darting to Orange, then back to her mentor. The loner seemed a little less nervous now, her lime-green gaze excited.

"Come on," Sorreltail meowed, pushing through the thorn barrier, "I'll take you to Bramblestar."

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

The tension between the dark grey apprentice and his mentor was obvious; Birchfall hadn't looked his apprentice in the eye once since their training session had begun.

Dewpaw still hated the fact that his mentor was a former dark forest cat, but he put up with it; he didn't want to spend another moon stuck in camp with complaining elders and overexcited kits.

"Well," Birchfall's mew sounded from across the clearing, "I guess we'll finish up now."

Dewpaw nodded, without even looking at his mentor. They had just been hunting today and the dark grey tom had caught his first prey, but all the same, he didn't exactly feel a rush of excitement or anything.

What Dewpaw longed for, was battle training. His amber eyes lit up at the thought of defending his clan, adrenalin pumping as cats fell upon his touch.

He sighed, someday that would be him.

Yawning, he fell in beside his mentor and they padded back to camp together. The silence was unbearable.

Dewpaw stopped by a tall birch tree to dig up his sparrow, before returning to his mentor's side. Birchfall stared at his apprentice for a second, amber gaze distant, before looking away.

They entered the camp to find their clanmates gathered below the highledge, each of their gazes fixed on Bramblestar.

The dark brown tabby stood beside an orange tabby she-cat with several white markings and Dewpaw only just caught the end of his words, "-will be known as Orangepaw!"

The dark grey apprentice frowned, _was that a loner? _ Was Bramblestar out of his mind?!

Dewpaw dropped his prey on the fresh-kill pile and quickly settled down beside his sister, "What's going on?" he hissed under his breath, "Is Bramblestar crazy? That's a _loner_!"

Amberpaw gave him a harsh stare before returning her amber eyes to their leader. Dewpaw sighed and let his amber gaze wash over the newly named, Orangepaw.

She was definitely warrior-aged, around the age of Berrynose perhaps? She had lime-green eyes and had short, neat fur.

"Mousewhisker," Bramblestar's mew echoed around the hollow, "You know what it's like to be judged for being non clan-born, you will mentor Orangepaw. I trust you to pass on all that Spiderleg taught _you _to Orangepaw."

Dewpaw felt a growl rise in his throat. _A former loner training another former loner! What happened to pure-blood?!_

That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. Lashing his tail, he stormed out through gorse barrier and out into the forest.

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**Me: I love Dewpaw! He's such a dramatic little thing. xD**

**Dewpaw: Heeey! Am not dramatic! -storms off in a huff-**

**Me: Exactly what I mean.**

**Amberpaw: You're lucky! You don't have to live with him.**

**Me: I feel for you.**

**Amberpaw: You need to do the disclaimer! -dances around merrily-**

**Me: Hmmm... Who should I pick to do the disclaimer?**

**Amberpaw: MEEEEEEEEEEEEE! PICK MEEEEEE!**

**Dewpaw: -pops back- I guess I could always do it, for my fans and plus, I'm amazingly awesome.**

**Me: I pick... SNOWPAW!**

**Amberpaw: WHAT?!**

**Dewpaw: Fox-dung! -storms off again-**

**Snowpaw: SNOWPAW! ME! 'Cause I'm awesome! -dances-**

**Me: Snowpaw, get on with it.**

**Snowpaw: OK.**

**Erin Hunter owns Warriors, not Leafsplash, or me. I wish I did though then I could kill Tigerstar a million times and make him suffer for all he did and-**

**Me: SNOWPAW!**

**Snowpaw: Oops sorry. **

**Me: Anyway, sorry for dragging on. R&R please! It makes me happy! :)**


	8. Chapter Seven: The Gathering

**Sorry for taking such a long time to update! I promise next time I'll be faster. ^^ To make up for it, I've made this chapter extra long. :)**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thank you! Birchfall is going to have a touch time with Dewpaw... I'll say no more.**

**juliamatney - Hello there! Thank you for reviewing, I really appreciate the feedback. Several hours passed between the point of views and Bramblestar is no fool. He could see that Orange was a valuable warrior and that she wouldn't need much training, he didn't need much time to think about it. Besides, the clan needs new blood so yeah... Thanks for letting me know though, criticism is what makes me a better writer. ^-^**

**Guest - Yeah, Dewpaw's a bit of a mouse-brain. A certain event, however, should make him a little more bearable. He will mature a lot more, I'll tell you that. Thanks, Orange/Orangepaw is FlyingOranges76's OC, she made her up, but your cat sounds gorgeous!**

**Thisty - I know right, I tried to make Amberpaw really likeable. My personal favourite is Snowpaw. You'll find out who Ivypool was talking about, there's a little clue in this chapter... -mysterious music- Dewpaw wouldn't actually do anything bad, he's just a bit of a mouse-brain to be honest. xD**

**Hannah - Thank you! Halfway through the next chapter already.**

**Disclaimer - I do not own Warriors, however, I do own Rainpaw, Rapidpaw, Cloudypaw, Goldenpaw, Littlepaw/stream, Snowypaw, Shadepaw, Berrypaw, Smallkit, Ravenkit, Thornkit, Morningkit, Shadekit, Duck-kit and Pikekit.**

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**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

Amberpaw couldn't believe it; she'd been invited to the gathering! It was just over a moon since her and her littermates had been made an apprentice and Bramblestar had invited all three of them! Even Dewpaw, who was known amongst his clanmates to be very rude, disrespectful and just generally mouse-brained.

The grey-and-white apprentice was milling around the camp entrance along with her brother, Snowpaw. Her and the white-furred apprentice had been talking about the gathering all day, it was what Amberpaw had been dreaming of since she'd been a tiny kit.

"Do you think we'll see Onestar?" Snowpaw pondered out loud, amber gaze a little distant, "And Blackstar and Mistystar?"

Amberpaw nudged her brother playfully, "Of course we will mouse-brain! They're clan leaders, they have to be there!" she grinned.

Snowpaw seemed to have suddenly realised his stupidity and laughed. Amberpaw couldn't help but feeling there was something up with her brother; he was the most intelligent of the litter and usually he would be the one telling _her _she was the mouse-brain.

"Are you alright?" she asked, head cocked to one side as she studied the lithe white tom. Since becoming an apprentice, he had grown a lot and now was almost as big as her; he had always been the smallest of the litter.

His muscles were beginning to develop and his white fur was much sleeker and slicked right back against his sturdy frame.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Snowpaw muttered, his amber gaze trailing off to where Lilypaw and Seedpaw sat, talking with each other. It seemed it was Seedpaw in particular that the white-furred tom was gazing at.

Amberpaw suppressed a burst of laughter and lowered her voice, "Do you like Seedpaw?" she teased, amber eyes sparkling with amusement.

Snowpaw shrunk back, "N-no! I mean, I don't know, I"- he broke off and stared at his paws, his amber gaze had turned a little shy.

Amberpaw opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Bramblestar's loud yowl.

"It is time for us to depart!"

The grey-and-white apprentice jumped to her paws and darted over to the dark brown tabby's side, Snowpaw hot on her heels.

Bramblestar purred at the apprentices' enthusiasm, and with a flick of his tabby-striped tail, led the party out of camp.

Dewpaw had fallen in beside Cloudtail, who despite being an elder, had been chosen to attend the gathering. Amberpaw had overheard her father begging Bramblestar to invite him along so she suspected that had something to do with why he was here.

Amberpaw let her amber eyes drift to their surroundings; the forest was completely different under moonlight and until now, the young apprentice had yet to experience it after dark.

"I can't wait to get to the island!" Snowpaw meowed excitedly, shivering with excitement.

The grey-and-white apprentice laughed, "You've said that about a million times now," she teased. She glanced behind her to see Lionblaze walking beside Jayfeather.

The golden tabby tom seemed nervous and Amberpaw managed to catch a bit of their conversation, "-But what if she kits while we're away?"

Jayfeather gave him a blind stare, "Lionblaze, Cinderheart isn't due for another half moon, and besides, Briarlight and Brightheart are in camp, together they have their fair share of medicine cat knowledge."

Lionblaze sighed, "I know, I just worry about her. I don't want to lose her."

Amberpaw smiled to herself, it was cute to see such a devoted mate. The grey-and-white apprentice was rather nosy and as a result, was one of the most knowledgeable cats in camp on relationships.

She loved to hear all the gossip and so, naturally, tonight's gathering had been long anticipated. Over the last moon or so she had noticed several things, relationship-wise. Rosepetal and Foxleap were unusually close and had been spotted sharing tongues many times.

Ivypool and Toadstep were also growing closer, though were yet to be seen sharing tongues.

"Amberpaw, look!"

The grey-and-white she-cat looked up to see they had just crossed onto WindClan territory and the island where the gathering would take place was now in view. The surrounding areas smelt strongly of rabbits, unsurprisingly, mixed with gorse, heather and a sort of windblown scent.

"_The sky, young Amberpaw, find the sky."_

Amberpaw frowned, "What did you just say, Snowpaw?" she meowed, puzzled. But Snowpaw was gone; he had gone ahead with Lilypaw and Seedpaw.

"Excited?"

It was Sorreltail. Amberpaw tried to forget the strange whispers she had heard and instead smiled warmly as her mentor fell in beside her, matching her pace easily.

"Yup!" the grey-and-white she-cat nodded eagerly, restless amber gaze falling upon the gathering island ahead. The one thing that unnerved her slightly though, was the tree-bridge.

Sorreltail seemed to notice this, "You okay?" her amber eyes were filled with concern, she spotted Amberpaw's gaze was on the tree-bridge, "Ah, worried about the tree-bridge?"

"A little," the young apprentice admitted, not meeting her mentor's eyes.

Sorreltail purred and nudged her apprentice playfully, "Don't worry about it, just make sure you don't look down and use your tail to help keep your balance."

Amberpaw nodded, trying to not let her nerves get to her. They padded on at a brisk pace until they reached the tree-bridge.

Sorreltail gave her a reassuring nudge before she leapt confidently onto the tree-bridge and walked across, following Brackenfur.

Amberpaw watched as Snowpaw stepped onto the tree-bridge before her. He didn't seem nervous at all and apart from the occasional wobble, he made it to the other side safely.

_Well, it's my turn now._ Summoning her courage, the grey-and-white apprentice leapt nimbly onto the tree-bridge. Actually, standing on the fallen log, she could feel her confidence growing.

_This isn't so hard, _she stepped forward a few steps, amber eyes glowing with pride. _I'm doing it!_

The grey-and-white apprentice began to pad forward confidently when she felt her paws slip and all of a sudden she was falling.

Her paws flailed, amber eyes stretching wide as the water grew closer. It was like everything was happening in slow motion and just before she hit the water, she felt someone grab hold of her by the scuff of her neck.

_I'm going to live!_

Amberpaw was lifted back onto the tree-bridge by the cat and at last she got to see her rescuer. Their eyes met and Amberpaw smiled; _Molespots._

The brown-and-cream warrior's green eyes were filled with concern, "Are you OK?" he asked, head cocked to one side.

The grey-and-white apprentice nodded, breathless with shock. She really thought she'd been on the path to StarClan then.

Molespots purred, "Just be careful where you put your paws," he meowed, green eyes sparkling with amusement and all of a sudden Amberpaw felt very embarrassed at her little fall.

"Thank you," she meowed simply, not sure what else to say. She walked forward steadily, being extra careful this time to not fall in.

Once reaching the end of the tree-bridge, she leapt off the fallen log and onto the safety of the island. It felt good to have all four paws on dry land. Fluffing up her grey-and-white fur, she sought out the white pelt of Snowpaw and quickly found it.

The white-furred apprentice was mingling with several RiverClan apprentices and so Amberpaw bounded over to join him. She was still in a little state of shock from her slip on the tree-bridge, but managed to smile warmly at her brother.

"Hi, Amberpaw," the snow-furred apprentice mewed brightly, "This is Rainpaw," he nodded to a dark grey she-cat, "And Rapidpaw," he flicked his tail towards a pale-brown-and-white tom.

Both smiled warmly at the grey-and-white she-cat, "I'm Amberpaw," she meowed, "Snowpaw's brother."

Rainpaw smiled, blue eyes glowing with warmth, "So, who's your mentor then?" she asked, her gaze briefly side-tracked to Rapidpaw, "Mine's Mossyfoot."

Snowpaw grinned, "My mentor's Icecloud, she's the best mentor ever!" he enthused, puffing out his white chest fur.

Amberpaw giggled, "Icecloud's alright, but not as good as Sorreltail," she sat up a little taller, her amber gaze briefly following her mentor who sat a few tail-lengths away, "She was on the great journey!"

"Wow!" Rapidpaw burst out, amber eyes gleaming with admiration, "She must be so experienced, she'll make you a great warrior!" his amber eyes trailed to his paws, "My mentor is Grasspelt, he's alright, he just"- he broke off, "a bit boring."

"I heard that," a light brown tom brushed past Rapidpaw, giving him a harsh amber stare before settling amongst the rest of the RiverClan warriors. The pale brown and white tom looked rather embarrassed, Amberpaw guessed that had been Grasspelt.

"Let the gathering begin!"

A yowl sounded from the tree in the centre of the clearing. Amberpaw settled herself by her brother and peered up at the great oak tree to see four cats; Bramblestar, a brown tabby tom who she guessed was Onestar, Blackstar and a grey she-cat with blue eyes.

_The four leaders!_ She thought gleefully. Her fur was fluffed up in excitement and she forced it to lie flat as they waited for the first leader to speak.

"I will report first," Blackstar, a white tom with black paws, meowed. He dipped his head to the other three leaders before stepping forward to speak, "ShadowClan is thriving!" he announced, amber eyes glowing, "We have two new apprentices, Snowypaw and Shadepaw!"

A ripple of congratulations spread amongst the clans, "Snowypaw! Shadepaw! Snowypaw! Shadepaw!" Amberpaw managed to spot the two newly named apprentices, huddled amongst the ShadowClan warriors.

One of them, who she presumed was Snowypaw, looked rather shy, but proud to have heard her name called whilst Shadepaw, a pale grey tom, sat up tall with his chest fur puffed out in pride.

"Also," Blackstar continued, "Littlecloud has taken an apprentice. It has been decided once he has trained her, he will retire. Berrypaw!"

The grey-and-white apprentice spotted a mottled grey she-cat sitting next to Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat. Her green eyes glowed in pride, though she remained calm and composed.

"Pinenose has given birth to three kits successfully, Smallkit, Ravenkit and Thornkit and Snowbird is expecting Crowfrost's kits," he took a step back and dipped his head, "That is all."

Amberpaw noticed that in front of her, Jayfeather was whispering something to Lionblaze. Intrigued, she listened in on their conversation.

"Blackstar is on his last life," the blind medicine cat murmured as subtly as possible, his blind blue gaze remaining fixed on the great oak.

_Blackstar's on his last life?_ Amberpaw wondered how he knew such a thing, but her thoughts were interrupted by Onestar's mew.

"WindClan are as strong as ever," he began, "Our deputy, Ashfoot, has decided to step down from her rank as deputy to join the elders. She was a wonderful deputy and it is a shame that she'll never get to take her place as leader."

"Ashfoot! Ashfoot!"

Murmurs spread amongst the clans, many were solemn. Ashfoot was popular amongst the clans and had been a valuable warrior in her day so she had heard.

"The new deputy is Sedgewhisker!"

"Sedgewhisker! Sedgewhisker!"

A loud, rumbling purr sounded from Dovewing a few tail-lengths away. Sedgewhisker too was a very well respected cat; Amberpaw knew that she had gone on the journey upstream to bring the water back from the beavers. Cloudtail had often told her that story as a kit.

The brown tabby went on to announce that the clan had several new apprentices, a new warrior and there were kits on the way. Amberpaw listened intently, amber eyes wide; she wanted to soak up as much information as possible.

"It's time for RiverClan to report!" Mistystar yowled, stepping in front of the WindClan tom, "We have two new apprentices, Rainpaw and Rapidpaw! Goldenpaw and Cloudypaw are growing into fine warriors and it will not be long until they receive their warrior names!"

"Rainpaw! Rapidpaw! Goldenpaw! Cloudypaw!"

"Littlepaw has received her warrior name, she is now Littlestream!"

"Littlestream! Littlestream!"

"And finally," the grey she-cat continued, "Petalfur has successfully given birth to four kits, Morningkit, Shadekit, Duck-kit and Pikekit!" the leader took a step back and waved her tail dismissively.

Finally, Bramblestar took a step forward, "We have several new apprentices, Snowpaw, Dewpaw and Amberpaw!"

The grey-and-white apprentice puffed out her chest fur, sitting tall with gleaming amber eyes as the clans called her name.

"Snowpaw! Dewpaw! Amberpaw!"

Amberpaw let out a rumbling purr as the cheering died down and Bramblestar began to speak again, "Cinderheart is expecting Lionblaze's kits and it won't be long before we have new warriors amongst our ranks," he smiled, amber gaze falling upon Seedpaw and Lilypaw.

"That is all."

The dark brown tabby tom took a step back before leaping off the branch and landing amongst his clanmates. The gathering was finished, at least the reports were.

Now was the time for sharing tongues. Or at least it was supposed to be; not many cats were sharing tongues, and the ones that were sharing tongues were doing so with their _own_ clanmates.

It was a tradition though and so they waited until the gossiping and sharing tongues was finished before leaving. "ThunderClan, it's time to leave!" Bramblestar announced.

Amberpaw nodded, trotting over to her leader. Her mentor fell in beside her, "So, how was your first gathering? Besides almost falling off the tree-bridge?" her amber eyes glittered with amusement.

Amberpaw grinned, "I _loved_ it!"

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**Thanks for reading this! Make my day and review, It was my birthday on Friday, so review and make me happy! ^^**


	9. Chapter Eight: Sweet Dreams

**Well, here you go! Chapter Eight! Sorry it's so short, the next chapter will be longer, I promise. ^^**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thank you! Got a new laptop which is why I took so long to reply, had to transfer all my files onto it and I've only just got used to the new keyboard (it's got huge spaces between each key).**

**Snowpaw: Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not (and never will) own warriors and doesn't claim to own warriors either. However, she does own the bar of Cadbury's chocolate that she's eating now.**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

They arrived back at camp late. It was already moon-high and the snowy-furred apprentice was exhausted. He's had a tough day of training and then the gathering and so a good night's sleep was well anticipated.

Stepping into the dim of the Apprentices' Den, he spotted Amberpaw settling down in her nest next to his. Dewpaw was already asleep, his dark grey flank rising and falling as he breathed; Snowpaw hoped that his brother wouldn't snore tonight of all nights. The dark grey tom's nest was at the back of the den and all the other apprentices had moved their nests away from his due to his noisy snores.

"Tired?"

It was Seedpaw. The pale ginger she-cat had just made herself comfortable in her mossy nest. Snowpaw nodded, jaws parting in a wide yawn. He nestled himself down in his nest of moss and feathers.

"Let's hope Dewpaw can learn to keep his mouth shut tonight," Seedpaw purred. Snowpaw could just make out her green eyes, dancing with amusement.

"Precisely what I was thinking," the snowy white tom agreed, closing his eyes and relaxing into his nest, "Night."

The last thing he heard was a, "Good night," before he fell asleep and sunk into darkness.

When Snowpaw opened his eyes, he was surprised to find he was not in his nest in the Apprentices' Den. He blinked in confusion, rising to weary paws.

_Where am I?_

He was immersed in a sort of silvery glow and the ground beneath his paws was sort of faded. It was grassy, though through the grass he could see stars. _Am I in… StarClan?_

He was in a meadow-like area. Tall grasses rose from the ground, flowers bloomed amongst them and at the edge of the meadow, there was a great forest of oaks.

A small river of gleaming, silver-tinged water raced through the meadow, cutting a path and just behind him stretched hills where he could see gorse and heather growing.

"Do not fear, small one."

A gentle voice, smooth like water running over pebbles sounded in his ears. Snowpaw looked up to see a pretty silver tabby she-cat with clear blue eyes staring down at him. Her pelt glittered with starshine and her blue eyes were filled with moons of wisdom despite being of a young age.

"W-who are you?" he stammered, amber eyes stretched wide with shock. Was this as StarClan warrior? Taking a little step back, he forced his neck fur to lie flat as he awaited her response.

"My name is Feathertail," she meowed, blue gaze warm, "You have nothing to fear from me, I am simply here to deliver a message, a message that involves you," she touched the tip of her plumy tail to his shoulder.

"Are you a StarClan warrior?" he asked, relaxing a little, "Is this StarClan?" then another thought occurred to him, "Am I _dead_ ?"

Feathertail shook her head, blue eyes dancing with amusement, "Oh no, you're not dead," she mewed softly, "There is much more you need to do before you join us. I am a StarClan warrior though, I was a RiverClan warrior."

_Feathertail? Former RiverClan cat? _Snowpaw finally made the connections, "Oh! Feathertail! You're the one that died to save the tribe, you were one of the chosen cats!" he mewed excitedly, he couldn't believe he was in such important company.

The grey-silver tabby she-cat smiled, "Yes, I did, but that doesn't matter now," she leaned closer to the snowy white tom, "The words I am about to share with you must not be repeated to undeserving ears, you may tell others it concerns, but don't go spilling it to just any cat."

Snowpaw nodded, amber eyes bright and ears pricked. He couldn't quite understand why a StarClan cat like Feathertail had come to an ordinary ThunderClan apprentice.

He wasn't anything special, he wasn't the fastest or the strongest. Yes he was intelligent but that was besides the point. StarClan cats only came to important cats like medicine cats and leaders, not apprentices.

Feathertail cleared her throat, clear blue gaze serious, she began to whisper,

"_Four will spread it roots to five._

_Three of Thunder's blood, descended of the flame;_

_the falling snow,_

_the morning dew _

_and the amber clouds _

_must return to the place of before,_

_where four where five, _

_and return the sky to its rightful place._"

Whatever Feathertail had just said, Snowpaw was absolutely clueless to what it meant. He cocked his head to one side, amber gaze confused, "W-what do you mean?" he asked, "The morning dew? The amber clouds? Where four were five?"

He could've asked a billion questions, but Feathertail hushed him by covering his mouth with her feathered silver tail, "Hush, young Snowpaw," she mewed softly, "Remember, don't go telling undeserving ears or you may suffer for it."

Snowpaw nodded, although he didn't quite understand what she meant, "What does it mean?" he asked, "The prophecy, I mean, I don't understand. How does it involve me?"

He fixed the StarClan warrior with a puzzled amber stare. Feathertail chuckled for a second before growing serious, "You must decide for yourself what it means," she told him, "And the answer to you second question, it involves you much more than you would ever believe possible."

Snowpaw opened his jaws to speak again, but Feathertail stopped him, "You walk a hard path, Snowpaw, you will have to make many important decisions, but you must remember, you must stay strong."

The white tom nodded, jaws clamped tightly shut. He knew the silver tabby StarClan warrior wouldn't give away any more, so he didn't bother probing her for answers. _Why couldn't StarClan warriors be blunt and tell you exactly what was going on or what you have to do? Why do they have to speak in riddles all the time?_

Feathertail smiled, letting lose a soothing purr, "Don't lose faith, Snowpaw," she whispered before pressing her nose to his soft white fur. When Snowpaw opened his eyes again, the spot where she had stood was empty and he was all alone again in this strange land.

_StarClan._

He had always imagine StarClan to be heaving with cats, but he'd only seen Feathertail so far. In fact, StarClan seemed fairly tranquil and peaceful. Sitting there alone, he didn't spot a single other cat and the only sound was the grasses brushing against one another, a lark singing and the sound of the river babbling.

It was starting to grow lighter, the glow of dawn grew on the horizon. Snowpaw wondered what he was supposed to do now that Feathertail had left him. _Do I stay here? Should I go back to sleep?_

"Young one!" a voice hissed.

Snowpaw glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. He spotted a ragged grey she-cat with orange eyes watching him, "Huh?"

"You must go!" the cat hissed, orange eyes blazing, "Dawn approaches, go to sleep and you will awake amongst your clanmates!"

The snowy-furred tom frowned, but did as she instructed, curling into a tight ball with his head on his paws. Slowly he closed his eyes and once more, he found himself engulfed by blackness.

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Dawn light filtered into the Apprentices' Den and onto Snowpaw's white pelt. The young tom blinked open his bright amber eyes, smiling upon realising he was back in his nest.

_Did I ever leave? _

He wondered whether the message from Feathertail had been real. Had he just imagined it?

"_The imagination is powerful, but not quite that powerful," _a smooth and gentle voice whispered in his ear. Feathertail.

So he hadn't imagined it! It was real, all real. The snow-furred tom wasn't sure whether he actually wanted it to be real, he wasn't a medicine cat; he wasn't supposed to receive prophecies.

"Had a nice dream?"

Amberpaw's chirpy mew forced him to look up. The grey-and-white she-cat had obviously been awake for a while and was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Snowpaw nodded, although he still hadn't quite decided whether this prophecy was a good or a bad thing. He stretched out his weary limbs and his amber gaze befell on Seedpaw.

"Was it about Seedpaw?" Amberpaw teased, nudging her brother playfully.

Snowpaw snorted, _I wish. _He didn't reply though. He did like Seedpaw, yes, but just as a friend, a close friend.

He wished his sister would stop going on about it; she could be such an annoying furball sometimes! His amber eyes flitted over Dewpaw, _Okay, so she's not quite as annoying as Dewpaw._

"Snowpaw! Training!"

The loud mew of his mentor sounded and Snowpaw jumped to his paws. He was still a normal apprentice, just because he'd received a prophecy didn't mean he was all special all of a sudden.

He ran over Feathertail's words in his head one more time.

_Four will spread it roots to five._

_Three of Thunder's blood, descended of the flame;_

_the falling snow,_

_the morning dew _

_and the amber clouds _

_must return to the place of before,_

_where four where five, _

_and return the sky to its rightful place._

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**Please review! -sings special reviewing song- I'll update quicker if you review and BTW, please excuse my poor prophecy writing skills. xD**


	10. Chapter Nine: Chasing Dreams

**Sorry it's such a short chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers, I really appreciate them. Would eight more reviews be too much to ask? Anyways, on with the personal review replies.**

**FlyingOranges76 - Yup, got a little bit of Dewpaw's P.O.V in this chappie. Oh and thanks! -hugs-**

**icefire - Awww, thank you so much! I love Berrynose for some reason... Anyway, who wouldn't want to be one of the Erin Hunters? AmberxMole is really cute. I don't want to give anything away so I'll say no more...**

**Hannah - Thank you! Let's just say Amberpaw may have some feelings for Molespots... Thanks for the criticism by the way, it really helps me become a better writer so it's appreciated. xD P.S.'s are awesome. I always do tons of them in my reviews, well, sometimes.**

**Dewpaw: -rolls eyes- Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan does not own warriors and neither does she claim to. -glares at Leafsplash- Why do I have to say this anyway?**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

It was a rather chilly day. Pale dawn light streamed into the den, warming Dewpaw's dark grey pelt a little. _Well, _he thought with a sigh, _time for training._

He rose to his paws, shaking a scrap of moss out from behind his ear, before padding out of the den. Birchfall wasn't waiting where he usually was, by the entrance to the Apprentices' Den.

The dark grey tom cat frowned; that wasn't like his mentor. Usually the pale brown tabby was up at the crack of dawn and usually even had time to go out hunting before he went to wake his apprentice. _He could be with Whitewing? _He thought with disgust.

Dewpaw decided to wait a little while for the light brown tabby and if he didn't make an appearance, he would go back to his nest and sleep. It was seven sunrises after the gathering, but the memories were as fresh as ever in the dark grey tom's mind.

He had met a young ShadowClan apprentice by the name of Shadepaw whom he had made friends with. Well, sort of mad friends with.

Shadepaw thought that they were friends, but the dark grey apprentice thought otherwise. Although allowed by the warrior code, he didn't believe in having friends outside his own clan because one, he though it disloyal, and two, if he didn't have any friends in other clans he wouldn't have to worry about anything when fighting battles against their clan.

All the same, Shadepaw did seem like a decent cat, if a little too eager and open to give away information about his clan.

Jaws parting wide in a yawn, he was met by Amberpaw. The grey-and-white she-cat gave him a cold amber stare, "Could you at least try to be quiet when you get up?" she asked, scratching behind her ear briefly, "Sorreltail isn't even up yet."

Dewpaw's dark amber gaze washed over the hollow, "I don't think anyone is," he meowed simply. He was right; the hollow was completely empty and if any cats were awake, they were either still in their dens or out in the forest already.

Amberpaw sat up a little taller and stretched, "Why are you up so early anyway? Usually, Sorreltail comes to wake me a little later than this," her amber gaze flitted over Dewpaw briefly, "Anyway, where is Birchfall?"

Dewpaw snorted, "Birchfall usually comes to wake me at this time," he mewed, tail flicking from side to side and amber eyes meeting Amberpaw's, "He's not up yet for some reason though."

Amberpaw rolled her eyes, "He's probably asleep, like both of us should be now! It's way too early for training!"

The dark grey tom stifled a giggle of laughter; _his sister could be so grumpy if you woke her up too early,_ he was glad that he didn't have to spend the day training with her. For once, he felt sympathetic for Sorreltail.

The pale grey-and-white she-cat sighed, "I'm going back to my nest," she told him and she was about to re-enter the den when Snowpaw appeared from the murk.

"We need to talk," he hissed.

Amberpaw groaned, "Aw, I was going to go back to sleep," Dewpaw noticed she spoke much more softly with her other brother. He and his sister had never really seen eye to eye; she thought he was too grumpy and boring whilst he found her so annoying and energetic all the time! She could be such a pain in the tail.

Snowpaw, however, seemed serious this morning. He had been acting a little strangely over the last couple of days and only StarClan knew why, "Look, I've got something important to tell you."

Dewpaw stared at Snowpaw blankly, "This had better _actually _be important, not some mouse brained idea you thought of the other day."

The snow-furred apprentice gave Dewpaw a cold stare, before taking a deep breath and mewing, "I think we may be part of a prophecy."

Amberpaw fixed her brother with serious amber eyes, "Really? Are you sure? Is it an important prophecy?"

Whilst the grey-and-white she-cat was serious about it, Dewpaw could help but let out a snigger of laughter, "A prophecy!" he snorted in disbelief, "We're normal apprentices, what makes you think we're all special and part of a prophecy, our father was a kittypet for StarClan's sake!"

Snowpaw glared at his brother, "I received a dream from StarClan a quarter-moon ago. You know Feathertail, that former RiverClan warrior who saved the tribe from the Sharp Claw?"

Amberpaw nodded eagerly whilst Dewpaw just grunted a, "Yes."

Snowpaw ignored his brother's disinterest, "Feathertail came to me in a dream and she told me a prophecy:

_'Four will spread it roots to five._

_Three of Thunder's blood, descended of the flame;_

_the falling snow,_

_the morning dew _

_and the amber clouds _

_must return to the place of before,_

_where four where five, _

_and return the sky to its rightful place.' " _the white tom recited the silver tabby StarClan warrior's words whilst Amberpaw listened with pricked ears and wide amber eyes.

"So you think 'the morning dew', 'the falling snow' and 'the amber clouds' are us?" he scoffed, unable to believe that his brother thought such a thing.

"Yes!" Snowpaw hissed, unable to handle his brother's temper any longer, "Although I don't know what the rest of the prophecy means."

Dewpaw rolled his eyes, "I have no time to go chasing dreams!" he snorted. He noticed that Birchfall had entered the camp, a squirrel dangling from his jaws. And with that, he stormed off to see his mentor.

_Who cares about some stupid prophecy? I sure don't._

Amberpaw and Snowpaw watched as their brother skulked away, "Why do we have such a mouse-brain for a brother?" Amberpaw asked her brother.

The snow-furred tom sighed, "I don't know, Amberpaw, I don't know."

**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

The grey-and-white apprentice sprung at the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, landing on her back. Using her tail for balance she batted at the cat beneath her and when they tried to roll and get her off, she scrambled to her paws and did the belly rake.

Sorreltail let out a yowl, "Alright! That's it!"

Amberpaw purred happily, stepping away from her mentor, "How was that?" she mewed brightly, amber eyes gleaming with pride.

Sorreltail let loose a rumbling purr and touched the tip of her tail to Amberpaw's shoulder, "That wasn't bad, not bad at all," she meowed, "You're shaping into a fine warrior. We'll try some more advanced moves next time."

The grey-and-white she-cat nodded, her mind drifting back to the prophecy Snowpaw had told her of earlier. She was pretty sure it involved her as it mentioned three cats of Thunder, which must've meant they were in ThunderClan and they were descended of the flame, which Amberpaw didn't quite understand the meaning of. They would have to try and uncover the meaning of the message from StarClan, her and Snowpaw.

Dewpaw was refusing to admit he was even in the prophecy, even though it stated that it involved the "morning _dew_", which had to be Dewpaw; there weren't any other "Dew's" in the clans.

Snowpaw and her had agreed to discuss the prophecy later and then they would try to persuade Dewpaw he was part of the prophecy. They didn't even know if they actually _were _part of the prophecy, but it was likely that they were; who else could the 'falling _snow_,', the '_amber_ clouds,' and the 'morning _dew_,' be?

**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

"So, what do you think it could mean?" Snowpaw asked, amber gaze serious and fixed upon his sister.

The grey-and-white apprentice stared at him blankly for a second before meowing, "Oh right! The prophecy," she paused, head tilted to one side, deep in thought, "I have no idea."

"That's helpful," Snowpaw meowed sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You sound like Dewpaw," Amberpaw teased, amber eyes sparkling with amusement.

Amberpaw gave her a harsh stare, "Come on, we need to be serious, this could be an important prophecy!"

The grey-and-white she-cat's eyes trailed to their surroundings. Snowpaw sighed; his sister could be so easily distracted! _Probably still go training on her mind, _he decided.

The white tom and his sister had gotten out of training as early as possible and ventured out to a secluded part of ThunderClan's territory to talk about the prophecy.

Seeing as Amberpaw didn't seem to have any ideas, Snowpaw began to speak, "We really need to get Dewpaw in on this, with three minds we're more likely to work out what this means," he stared blankly at his snow-white paws, "Why do StarClan warriors have to speak in riddles?" he pondered out loud, "Can't they just tell us what to do?"

Amberpaw shrugged, "That's just StarClan I guess," they sat in silence for a few seconds before she spoke again, " '_must return to the place of before,'_ Perhaps that means we have to go back to somewhere where the clans have been before," she paused, "Have ThunderClan always used the hollow as the camp? Perhaps it could refer to a previous camp?"

"You know what," Snowpaw meowed, deep in thought, "You might be on to something."

There was a moments silence as both cats got lost in their thoughts before the silence was broken.

"But didn't the clans used to live in the old forest or something?" Snowpaw meowed, heart beating a little faster; _they were getting somewhere!_

"You're right, but we still don't know why we would need to go to the old forest, or even if we are the one's mentioned in the prophecy," Amberpaw pointed out.

Snowpaw sighed, realising his sister was right, "I guess, but we're getting somewhere," his amber gaze drifted to the forest around them, "We'll meet same place, same tomorrow and see if we can try and work out some more of the prophecy?" he suggested, "And we'll see if we can get Dewpaw in on this."

"Easier said than done," Amberpaw meowed, "But we can try."

Snowpaw purred, "Great!" he rose to his paws, "Come on, let's get back to camp."

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**Thanks for reading guys! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! It makes me a happy bunny and encourages me to write faster and better, plus it makes me feel special. xD**


	11. Chapter Ten: New Life

**A nice long chappie for my reviewers and readers. Please read and review, it makes me happy. ^^**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thanks. xD Dewpaw kind of knows he's involved in the prophecy, he's just in a state of denial really. And Awww! Thank you, that has just made my week.**

**icefire - Same, I loved Spottedleaf. And for your suggestion... I already have a romance planned for Dewpaw and it's not a normal one... Anyway, won't give anything else away. :)**

**Pumpkinfur - xD Those aren't their warrior names, just used them for the prophecy. Dewmorning xD**

**Hannah - Thank you for your continued support! He he, glad it's starting to make sense. I bet a few of my readers have started to work out what the prophecy means.**

**Amberpaw: Leafsplash-Of-ThunderClan doesn't own Warriors, but she does own the packet of malteasers she's eating now!**

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**S****nowpaw's P.O.V.**

"Lilypaw, from this moment you shall be known as Lilystream! StarClan honours your energy and determination!" Bramblestar announced, touching noses to the newly named warrior.

Snowpaw watched with wide amber eyes as the white-patched dark brown tabby licked Bramblestar's shoulder as was tradition before stepping back to her sister's side.

Seedpaw had yet to receive her warrior name and looked just as excited as Lilystream. The pale ginger apprentice was usually calm as can be, but today was an exception.

All eyes fell upon Seedpaw as she stepped forward before Bramblestar. Despite this not being his own warrior ceremony, Snowpaw was particularly excited. _My friend's being made a warrior!_

Amberpaw was always teasing him about Seedpaw being more than a friend, but he had always denied it. It was only over the last moon he'd really come to realise his feelings for Brackenfur and Sorreltail's daughter. _Maybe I do like her a little more than as a friend?_

She pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, _Bramblestar's about to speak!_

"Seedpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" the dark brown tabby leader asked, tail flicking from side to side as he calmly addressed the apprentice.

"I do," Seedpaw confirmed, her voice quiet but tinged with excitement.

Bramblestar smiled, amber eyes glowing in the growing sunlight; it was almost sunhigh and Snowpaw was enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on his snowy-white pelt.

It was almost Green-leaf and Snowpaw couldn't wait! He'd been born in leaf-bare so Green-leaf was a whole new concept to him.

"Seedpaw," Bramblestar continued, jerking Snowpaw from his thoughts. The white tom refocused his amber eyes on Seedpaw, "from this moment, you shall be known as Seedflight! StarClan honours your patience and kindness."

Seedflight's green eyes glowed with pride as she licked Bramblestar's shoulder like she'd seen Lilystream do before taking a step back to join her sister.

"Lilystream! Seedflight! Lilystream! Seedflight!" the clan chanted the two warriors' named, Snowpaw calling Seedflight's name particularly loudly.

Amberpaw seemed to notice this and gave him a playful nudge, eyes dancing with amusement, but this time Snowpaw ignored her. _So what if I like her? Who wouldn't like Seedpa-, no Seedflight._

Seedflight also noticed his extra loud cheering and winked at him, green eyes gleaming.

The cheering died down and Bramblestar flicked his tail, "Clan dismissed," he meowed briefly before leaping off the highledge to share tongues with Squirrelflight.

Snowpaw padded over to congratulate the two new warriors, who were talking with Brackenfur and Sorreltail, "Well done on becoming warriors!" he meowed brightly, settling down in between Seedflight and Sorreltail, "It'll only be me, Dewpaw and Amberpaw in the Apprentices' Den now."

Lilystream was the first to reply, "I can't believe it! A warrior at last, it seemed the day would never come."

Seedflight purred, nuzzling her sister affectionately, "Me neither. Not long till you and your littermates are made warriors too," she pointed out, "Until then, we'll save a space for you in the Warriors' Den," her eyes met Lilystream's before she looked away.

"Snowpaw!"

It was Icecloud. The snowy-pelted tom sighed, _Icecloud's training is so intense! Will I ever get a day off?_ Reluctantly, he padded over to greet the snow-white she-cat.

Icecloud purred, obviously not seeing how little he wanted to go training, "Fancy going on a hunting patrol?" she asked, blue eyes bright.

Snowpaw tilted his head to one side, "Sure," he meowed, his gaze briefly fell on Seedflight before it returned to his mentor, "That'd be great."

"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but did you say a hunting patrol?"

It was Seedflight. The light ginger she-cat must've heard their words and had padded over, Lilystream at her side.

Icecloud nodded, "Sure, the more paws, the more prey," she meowed enthusiastically, tail twitching from side to side as she spoke.

Lilystream glanced sideways at her sister, "First hunting patrol as a warrior, I'm going to try and catch enough to feed all the queens!"

Seedflight chuckled, "That would only be Daisy and Cinderheart," she reminded her sister, green eyes dancing with amusement.

Lilystream's face fell, "Oh yeah."

Icecloud glanced over her shoulder, "Come on then, let's get going," and so the warriors departed camp, paws headed for the deepest part of ThunderClan's territory.

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

_Great. Stuck in camp again, _the dark grey tom thought miserably as he chewed on his squirrel. Birchfall was out with Whitewing and Dovewing and most of the other warriors were out training, hunting or patrolling.

Dewpaw wished _he_ could join a patrol, but it was too late now. He was confined to camp because his mentor put his mate in front of training his apprentice.

The dark grey apprentice had already had an offer to get out of camp from Jayfeather, but that involved collecting herbs. Dewpaw was desperate to get out of camp, but not desperate enough that he'd be content picking leaves and flowers of no obvious significance and so he'd declined, rather rudely actually.

He was picking at his squirrel by now, his amber eyes staring blankly at the walls of the hollow. A calm breeze ruffled his dark grey fur, but it wasn't the breeze that sent a chill down his spine, it was the ear-splitting yowl that erupted from the walls of the nursery.

_StarClan, what now?_ The dark grey tom thought with a hiss, though his amber eyes were trained upon the nursery's entrance. He was rather intrigued by what was going on and when Daisy came scuttling out, making for Jayfeather's den, he put the pieces together.

_Cinderheart must be kitting._

It seemed his assumptions were correct as the blind medicine cat soon came scurrying out of the den, Daisy on his heels, heading for the nursery.

What Dewpaw did _not _expect however, was Jayfeather to address him, "Cinderheart is kitting," he mewed hurriedly, "I need you to assist me, seeing as a I don't have an apprentice."

The dark grey tom jumped to his paws, pelt bristling, "Why should I?" he hissed, amber eyes blazing, "I'm not your apprentice and I never will be!" he stormed off towards the thorn barrier, but was stopped by Jayfeather's mew.

"I wouldn't do that I were you, you're lucky Bramblestar let you off your moon's confinement to camp and besides, I'm your medicine cat, I'm allowed to boss you around."

Dewpaw stopped. As much as he hated to admit, Jayfeather was right. The dark grey tom didn't want to be stuck in the camp for another moon and so, admitting defeat, he growled, "Where do you need me?"

Jayfeather gave him an empty smile, "Nice of you to see sense," he meowed, "I need you to get a stick for Cinderheart to bite on when the pain comes," and without waiting for a reply, he padded into the Nursery after Daisy.

"Queens just take up space, they don't hunt or fight and then when they kit they expect everyone to help them," he grumbled to himself as he padded through the thorn barrier.

It felt good to be out of camp and for a second he considered running away, but he decided against it and began rooting around for a stick.

It wasn't hard. He soon found a thick sturdy stick from what looked to be an oak tree. Picking it up in his jaws, he padded back into camp to see Lionblaze, the father of the kits, pacing up and down outside the nursery.

The golden-furred tom shot him an anxious smile before Dewpaw disappeared into the dim of the nursery. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the light, but when he did, he spotted a dark grey queen, a medicine cat and Daisy huddled at the rear of the den.

Dewpaw trotted over, amber gaze dull, and dropped the stick at Jayfeather's paw, "What do I do now?" he half-meowed, half-growled.

Jayfeather gave him a blind glare, "When the kits come, you need to nip the sac and lick the fur the wrong way to encourage the kit to breath," he meowed briefly before returning his attention to an out-of-breath Cinderheart, "When the pain comes, I need you to push as hard as you can," he meowed.

_Nip the sac? What's that mean?_ Dewpaw didn't have time to ask because Cinderheart let out another pain-stricken yowl, "Why do _I_, of all cats, have to help you with this," he hissed to the medicine cat.

"Because you're the only apprentice in camp," Jayfeather growled before dismissing the conversation with a flick of his grey tabby-striped tail. Cinderheart began to convulse and a wave of pain rippled through her body.

"StarClan!"

Lionblaze was pacing up and down even faster now and Dewpaw heard him meow, "Stay strong, my love."

The dark grey apprentice rolled his eyes at this open act of love and received a shove from Jayfeather, "Don't get distracted! The first kit's almost with us."

Dewpaw turned his attention to the dark grey tabby queen and from underneath her tail, he could see a small pale shape poking out. Cinderheart let out a yowl of pain and her muscles tensed before pushing and a small sac tumbled out onto the floor.

Dewpaw looked over at Jayfeather, _Do I really have to? _ The medicine cat seemed to have read his thoughts and gave him a harsh blind glare.

The young apprentice sighed and reluctantly nipped the small pale sac, wincing at the unusual taste. There, at his paws, was a bundle of dark fur and all of a sudden, Dewpaw's mind went blank.

_"Lick the fur the wrong way,"_ a voice whispered. Relief washed over him and Dewpaw crouched down and gently licked the fur the wrong way.

A tiny mew erupted from the small body and Dewpaw let go of a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. As much as he didn't want to do this, he couldn't let an innocent kit die.

He continued to lick the fur the wrong way until he could feel warmth flooding off the small kit's pelt and then he placed the bundle of fur at its mother's belly.

As he'd been occupied with the first kit, the second kit had been born and Daisy had already nipped the sac and was licking the small body furiously. The kit sprouted into life and Daisy purred, setting the kit down by the first kit.

But there was no time to pause as the third kit had just slipped out onto the soft mossy floor. Dewpaw took control and nipped the sac, wrinkling up his nose in disgust at the bitter taste. He began to lick the pale kit's fur and then did the same as he had with the first one, putting it against its mother's soft underbelly.

Daisy was dealing with the fourth kit and Dewpaw sat back a little. _Four kits. That's nice… I guess._

He thought it was over, but then Cinderheart's body began to convulse again as it prepared to deliver the fifth kit.

_Five kits?_ He thought with surprise, raising one eyebrow in disbelief. The dark grey tabby let out a screech of pain, though this one lasted longer than the rest. Cinderheart was exhausted by now and it was beginning to show.

"You're doing well Cinderheart, just one more kit, one more life to bring into ThunderClan," he meowed, his tone unusually soft, but Dewpaw heard him hiss under his breath, "You are definitely the loudest queen whilst giving birth."

The dark grey tom giggled, but then he heard the sound of a sac hitting the moss and he leapt into action, nipping the sac and licking the fur the wrong way.

The contractions had stopped and Cinderheart had begun to catch her breath. Gently, Dewpaw placed the fifth and final kit in the curve of its mother's belly.

Jayfeather examined each kit before peering out of the den and meowing, "Lionblaze, you can come in now."

His mew was followed by a thundering of paws as the golden tabby tom came bounding into the den and rushed to his mate and covering her in licks, "Are you alright? I was so worried"- he broke off when he spotted the five kits nestled at their mother's belly.

Lionblaze took a deep breath and a rumbling purr erupted from him, "They're beautiful," he whispered, "They're perfect."

Cinderheart gave an exhausted nod. Her mate continued to purr, "You're so beautiful, so strong, so strong," he smothered her in licks again before nodding to Jayfeather, "Thank you for taking care of her, brother."

"My pleasure," his gaze fell upon the kits again, "You have three toms and two she-kits," he confirmed.

Lionblaze let out a squeal, "FIVE KITS?! Oh my StarClan!" it seemed that until then the golden tom had failed to count the number of kits at his mate's side.

Dewpaw watched as Lionblaze nuzzled his mate and his gaze fell upon the three kits whom he had helped deliver; the first-born, the third-born and the fifth-born.

"Shall we name them?" Cinderheart mewed weakly, blue eyes filled with exhaustion, but glowing with pride and love for Lionblaze and her kits.

Her mate nodded, his amber gaze falling upon the first kit, a golden tabby tom, he was the largest of the five, "What about Pebblekit for him?" Lionblaze suggested, "His mottled paws look like pebbles."

Cinderheart purred, "Yes, Pebblekit," her blue eyes trailed to the second kit. The second kit was also a tom, but this one was very pale grey in colour and had black ear-tips, a black tail-tip and one black paw, "Puddlekit."

Lionblaze nodded in agreement and let his tail rest on the third kit, a golden brown tabby she-kit with white paws, white underbelly and a white tail-tip.

"I want to name her Honeykit," Cinderheart whispered, blue eyes clouding with grief, "In honour of Honeyfern. She shouldn't have died."

"Honeyfern was a brave and loyal warrior. Yes, Honeykit fits her perfectly," Lionblaze replied, mew soft. Honeykit's pelt was rather like Honeyfern's, which was probably another reason why they had chosen the name.

They came to the fourth kit, a very dark grey tom, "What about this one?" Lionblaze asked his mate. Cinderheart didn't respond.

"What about Stormkit?" Dewpaw suggested, seeing as the couple couldn't think of a name. All eyes fell upon him and there was a moment's silent before Cinderheart mewed.

"Stormkit, yes, that's fitting."

Dewpaw let out a sigh of relief at their approval.

"And the final kit?" the final kit was a tortoiseshell-and-white she-kit with long fur.

"Mosskit?"

"Yes, Mosskit."

Lionblaze crouched down by his kits, "Welcome to ThunderClan, Pebblekit, Puddlekit, Honeykit, Stormkit and Mosskit," he whispered softly, touching his tail to each kit in turn.

Cinderheart let out a rumbling purr and beside Dewpaw, Jayfeather muttered something, "Five new warriors for ThunderClan. Thank you StarClan."

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**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked Lionblaze and Cinderheart's kits. ^^ This was a bit of a pointless chapter but anyway... Read and review!**


	12. Chapter Eleven To the Moonpool

**Sorry for the long wait! Should be updating next on Thursday. ^^ Anyway, not very interesting chappie. I wanted you guys to meet Lionblaze and Cinderheart's kits, they're so cute! I especially love Honeykit. -whimpers- I loved Honeyfern. :'(**

**Anyways, read and review! You know I love it!**

**icefire: (2 reviews! Woah!)**

**review 1 - Really? I never knew that, thanks for letting me know. I always pictured her with blue eyes.**

**review 2 - He he. :D I wanted you guys to see the nicer side of Dewpaw, and also, helping with this kitting might come in handy later on in his life...**

**FlyingOranges76: Thanks! I love CinderxLion, they're one of my favourite couples. xD Gotta love an annoyed Dewpaw.**

**Hannah: I wanted to show Dewpaw's lighter side. He's not all bad, he's just a little misunderstood. SeedxSnow are really cute. ^_^ Love those two.**

**Xxxxxxxx: Thanks for the feedback, I'll try not to use it so much. Snowpaw's so cute. ^^**

**Raggedstar 3: Sorry about that! I usually proofread, but sometimes I miss things out. Thanks for letting me know though and same, I love IvyxToad. They're cousins but let's just pretend that they're not. xD**

**Wildfire10: Thank you! Added Resurrection to my community. Must get round to reading it... **

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**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

Dawn light streamed through the walls of the Apprentices' Den and onto the she-cat's patched ginger-and-white pelt. Amberpaw blinked sleepily and slowly rose to her paws, stretching briefly.

Dewpaw's nest was empty, but Snowpaw's sleeping form was visible in the centre of the den. She purred to herself, carefully stepping over her brother and exiting the den.

Amberpaw stepped into the pale sunlight just in time to see Dewpaw and Birchfall's tails disappear through the thorn barrier. Not many cats were up at this time; only herself, Bramblestar (who was settled on the highledge), Squirrelflight (who was sharing tongues with her mate) and Sandstorm (who sat outside the Elders' Den, green eyes clouded with grief).

The grey-and-white she-cat padded over to the fresh-kill pile, which due to it being late-green-leaf, was rather large. She quickly settled for a squirrel, her favourite type of prey, and sat down below the high-ledge.

Sorreltail had told her that she could have a day off from training today and Amberpaw was eager to make the most of it. She had already decided to go and see Cinderheart's kits, who had been born nine sunrises earlier, but she had no idea what to do for the rest of the day.

_Hunting perhaps?_

Amberpaw chewed at the squirrel, savouring the fresh taste. It was still warm and the grey patched she-cat assumed that it must've been caught by Birchfall; Dewpaw had told her that his mentor tended to go hunting very early, "Thank you, Birchfall," she muttered to herself.

Her alert amber gaze was caught by the slender form of Dovewing, emerging from the Warriors' Den, green eyes clouded with concern.

_One of the four,_ she realised as she swallowed a mouthful of squirrel, _I wonder what she's so worried about?_

The young warrior scurried over to the High-ledge and hissed up to Bramblestar, "Bramblestar! We need to talk!"

The ThunderClan leader blinked open sleepy amber eyes, briefly licking Squirrelflight's cheek before leaping down off the High-ledge, "Sure."

Intrigued, Amberpaw slipped a little closer, ears perked forward, she managed to catch the pale grey she-cat's words.

"Rogues have attacked. Blackstar is dead and as is Rowanclaw," Dovewing meowed, voice scarcely a whisper. _How does she know that? _Amberpaw wondered, _Oh yeah; her powers._

Bramblestar's eyes flashed with alarm, "Rogues. ShadowClan must be in turmoil," he glanced behind him at Squirrelflight briefly, "Thank you for alerting me. I'll make sure the patrols keep an eye out for rogues."

Dovewing smiled, relaxing a little and dipping her head to her leader, "Thank you for listening to my concerns," she meowed before padding away.

"ShadowClan without a leader and deputy, huh?" Amberpaw murmured to herself, amber gaze flitting over to the nursery. She quickly swallowed down the rest of the squirrel before padding over to the nursery. _Time to meet ThunderClan's newest members!_

Amberpaw hadn't been in camp when Cinderheart had given birth, but she'd heard the loud yowls of the dark grey tabby queen. She'd had five kits, Dewpaw had told her, the largest litter Jayfeather had ever known.

Stepping into the dim, her amber eyes quickly adjusted to the light. Lionblaze was already in the den and was sharing tongues with Cinderheart whilst five small bundles were tucked in the curve of their mother's belly.

Upon spotting the daughter of Cloudtail and Brightheart, Cinderheart lifted her head and meowed a greeting, "Come to see the kits?"

Amberpaw nodded, but remained silent. Her attention was on the five small lives at Cinderheart's belly.

The dark grey tabby let out a chuckle before briefly licking her mate on the cheek, "Bring back a squirrel, you know I love squirrels," she whispered as he departed the den.

Amberpaw dipped her head to the disappearing golden tom before stepping forward to greet the small kits, "Hello, kits," she looked up to their mother, "What are their names?"

"Pebblekit, Puddlekit, Honeykit, Stormkit and Mosskit," she meowed, touching her tail to each kit in turn, "Pebblekit, Puddlekit and Mosskit have opened their eyes and were awake a few hours ago, but they've fallen asleep again," she meowed with a chuckle, nodding to three of the kits.

"Wonderful names," Amberpaw purred. The largest kit, a golden tabby tom, began to rouse, _Pebblekit was it? _

The young kit blinked open his eyes to reveal their colour, a vibrant green. Sleepily, Pebblekit shook his head, "Momma, who's that?" he meowed, leaf-green eyes falling upon Amberpaw.

The grey-and-white she-cat purred, "I'm Amberpaw," she meowed softly. The golden tabby tom-kit had found his voice quickly, the young apprentice noted.

Amberpaw hadn't uttered her first words until she was half a moon old, but then again, she had always been a slow one.

The tom-kit tilted his head to one side, "Are you a warrior apprentice?" he asked, "Because I'm going to be a warrior."

"Yes, I'm a warrior apprentice," she smiled, amber eyes glowing in the dim light of the nursery.

Pebblekit's green eyes lit up and Amberpaw noted he looked exactly like his father, not including his bright, leaf-green eyes. The golden tabby kit quickly poked a very pale grey tom-kit and a tortoiseshell-and-white she-kit awake, "A warrior apprentice has come to see us!" he squeaked excitedly.

The tortoiseshell-and-white she-kit slowly woke up and had to blink her pale green eyes open slowly before her eyes adjusted to the light, "Why'd you wake me up?" she asked sleepily. Then her gaze fell upon Amberpaw, "A warrior apprentice!" she shrieked.

The light grey-and-white apprentice let out a purr, though her attention had already been diverted to the pale grey tom-kit who had begun to rise to his paws.

"Who are you?" he queried, amber gaze alert despite having only just woken up, "Are you a warrior?"

Amberpaw chuckled, "I wish," her gaze fell upon the two remaining kits who were still asleep, "I'm just an apprentice."

"Just an apprentice!" The white tom, who she realised was Puddlekit, widened his eyes, "I'd do _anything _to be an apprentice now."

Cinderheart let her tail rest on her son's flank, "You're only just over a quarter-moon old," she reminded him gently, blue eyes soft.

"What's going on?" a soft voice sounded.

All eyes fell upon the furry golden brown mass of Honeykit who had just woken. She fixed her bright green gaze on Amberpaw, "You're not mother."

Cinderheart's eyes lit up, "Honeykit! You've opened your eyes!" she rushed over to the golden brown tabby she-kit and smothered her in licks.

"It's so bright!" Honeykit replied, green eyes darting around the den, "Is it always like this?"

Cinderheart held her daughter close, "Your eyes will adjust, my sweet," she whispered softly, licking her daughter's cheek ever so gently.

Honeykit wriggled away from her mother's tight hold, "Stormkit's woken up," she nodded to the dark grey, almost black tom, who had just risen to his paws.

"Whoa!" he let out a squeal of excitement as he stumbled over a moss-ball. His eyes were just like his mother's, a bright blue colour.

"You've all opened your eyes," Cinderheart purred pulling all five of her kits close to her dark grey fur, "Wait till your father sees, he'll be so proud of you."

Amberpaw could sense her time was coming to an end and dipped her head to the proud mother, "Thank you for letting me visit them, they're so cute."

"Cute! I'm not cute! I'm a feroscious warrior!" Pebblekit squeaked, attacking Mosskit who shortly let out a "Hey!"

Cinderheart chuckled, "It's ferocious, not feroscious," she corrected gently before diverting her attention to the pale grey-and-white apprentice, "Thank you, I'm sure they'd love you to come and play with them some time."

Amberpaw nodded, "I'd love to," she dipped her head to the dark grey queen before taking a step back and departing the den.

The camp had sprung into action since she'd first emerged from the Apprentices' Den and Squirrelflight was organising patrols from the Highledge, Bramblestar at her side.

"Mousewhisker! Take Orangepaw, Bumblestripe and Dovewing on a patrol to the ShadowClan border!" the dark ginger she-cat yowled.

The chosen cats dipped their heads to the deputy, before gathering together. Orangepaw dashed over to her mentor, green eyes glowing with excitement. Although she hadn't been an apprentice long, Amberpaw knew it wouldn't be long until the former loner was a warrior.

Orangepaw was almost the same age as Mousewhisker and had she been born in ThunderClan, she would certainly be a warrior by now. Amberpaw had also noticed how close Orangepaw and Mouswhisker were; closer than just a warrior and apprentice. _Perhaps they'll become mates when she's a warrior?_

Her gaze drifted around the hollow, _Now, what to do?_ _Hunting? _She mused on her options for a second before making up her mind, "Squirreflight!" she called up to the deputy of ThunderClan.

The dark ginger she-cat looked up, "Yes, Amberpaw?" she asked, green eyes filled with interest.

"I'm going to go hunting, by myself," a cream-and-brown pelt caught her eyes and immediately she regretted her words. _Oh StarClan, I should've have asked him to come with me!_

Ever since the day that he'd saved her on the tree-bridge, she had kept thinking of him. She didn't know what had gotten into her, he was just a friend, _right?_

She shook Molespots from her thoughts and forced her gaze back to Squirrelflight. The deputy looked contemplative, _she must be wondering whether to let out an apprentice of my age, on my own._

"Alright," Squirrelflight sighed, "Just be careful."

Amberpaw nodded and with a flick of her tail, trotted towards the thorn barrier, sliding under it easily. Once out in the forest, she could relax.

She took a step forward to find her paws were wet. Amberpaw let out a growl and looking down, expecting to see a puddle, but instead she saw that the droplets of moisture clung to every blade of grass around her. _Dew. Morning dew._

The words of the prophecy flew back to her and all of a sudden she stiffened. She and Snowpaw had worked out that they needed to go back to ThunderClan's old territory, but they knew nothing more.

_And Dewpaw continues to deny he is in the prophecy._

Amberpaw sighed and suddenly an idea struck her. _Perhaps I could go to see StarClan?_

"But how do I visit StarClan?" she pondered out loud, staring at the grassy the forest floor, "_Of course! _The Moonpool!"

Amberpaw scrambled to her paws, _I can ask StarClan about the prophecy. _She headed off towards the WindClan border, her heart lifting with hope.

Perhaps StarClan could help her understand the prophecy, _and my destiny perhaps?_

When she reached the Moonpool, it was sunhigh. The young apprentice had never seen the Moonpool before and it took her breath away.

Water, glinting silver in the light, tumbled down into a small pool. The ground was marked with paw prints, generations old. _Probably from the ancients that Jayfeather talks about._

Taking a deep breath, she settled herself down by the large pool. _All to do now is to wait for night fall, and then I visit StarClan._

But waiting by the Moonpool made her restless. Her paws itched to go over and take a sip, just to quench her thirst, but she managed to resist.

_Do I really have to wait till night?_

She eyed the water, her mouth watering at the temptation of its cool depths. _Just a sip, then I'll go back to waiting for StarClan._

Amberpaw rose to her paws and padded over to the water's edge. She crouched down, the gentle ripples of water lapping at her paws.

She smiled, seeing her face reflected in the silver-blue depths before leaning close and taking a sip. _That's better._

The water was cool on her tongue and tasted exquisite. _Is this what Starshine tastes like? _She wondered. She blinked open her eyes.

_Wait, where am I? _She stood in a sunny forest, a blue sky above her head. The scent of prey hung thick in the air and she could hear the distant sound of water tumbling over water.

A golden tabby tom stood before her, his pelt shimmering with starshine, green eyes bright, "Greetings young one, my name's Lionheart."

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**Read and review please! Not much else to say. :)**

**Leafsplash, out.**


	13. Chapter Twelve: A StarClan Warrior

**Chapter Twelve is up! Woop! It's not massively interesting but anyway. It's not too long either, but anyway, read and review. :)**

**FlyingOranges76 - he he, they are really cute together. ^^**

**Icefire- I just had to put that in. xD I killed Blackstar because he was ancient, he was born and made a warrior in Yellowfang's Secret you know? And Rowanclaw is quite old too so I killed him as well. xD I feel evil. I lived Lionheart and Mousefur was awesome. :)**

**Raggedstar 3 - Ha ha! I knew everyone would love me if I put Lionheart in.**

**And yup, Ivypool and Toadstep are cousins, it says on Warriors Wiki. Cherryflower and Molespots are Poppyfrost and Berrynose's kits. Toadstep and Rosepetal are Daisy and Spiderleg's kits.**

**Kenzie12 - Coincidentaly, in a few chapters there will be a battle... I'll say no more.**

**Hannah - I lurved Lionheart, he was awesome! And there's no particular reason that she saw him, I just wanted to bring him in.**

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"_Greetings young one, my name's Lionheart."_

Amberpaw stared up at the starry golden tabby tom with wide amber eyes, "_The _Lionheart? The ThunderClan deputy? Greystripe's mentor?"

Lionheart chuckled, "Yes, that is I, but changing the subject, why have you sought out StarClan's guidance?" he asked, green eyes clouding with concern, "Is it about the prophecy?"

Amberpaw nodded, "Yes," she meowed, "Dewpaw refuses to admit he's part of it and me and Snowpaw have no idea what it means," she continued with a sigh.

Lionheart rest his tail on her shoulder, "So you've worked out it involves you, then?"

The grey-and-white apprentice nodded, "Yes, but apart from that we need to return to the forest, we haven't been able to uncover what the prophecy means," she let out another sigh, "Why can't you just tell us what to do so we can fulfil it?" she blurted out. She instantly regretted her words, "Sorry"-

Lionheart interrupted her, "Don't worry. You have a lot of pressure piled on you for such a young age, but don't lose faith," his green eyes briefly clouded with knowledge, before he spoke again, "And as for what it means, you must discover your own destiny. You must forge your own path."

Amberpaw gazed up at the former ThunderClan deputy for a second, "But what about Dewpaw?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Lionheart chuckled, "Yes, he's a stubborn old thing. But he will realise his destiny soon," he glanced over his shoulder, "You must be going now. Your clan will be wondering where you are."

Amberpaw nodded reluctantly, opening her jaws to speak again, but found Lionheart gone. _Why do StarClan cats have to be so secretive?_

The next thing she knew, Amberpaw was waking up by the Moonpool. She blinked in confusion for a few moments before realising what had happened.

Yawning, she rose to her paws, "Did that just happen?" she muttered to herself in disbelief, "Did I really just meet a StarClan warrior?" she blinked away the thoughts.

_I'd better get back to camp._

A lot of time had passed since she'd left camp and so she set off at a quick pace, but she soon slowed. Her paws ached, despite her having done almost nothing that day and she soon stopped for a rest.

Amberpaw still couldn't believe that Lionheart had visited her. She'd heard about the great golden tom in many nursery tales and now she could tell everyone she'd met him!

Sitting under an old oak tree, she briefly ran her paw behind her ears in an attempt to look more presentable when she eventually reached camp. Her grey and white pelt was all ruffled from when she slept by the Moonpool and she didn't want any of her clanmates getting suspicious.

_I'd better catch something, I have been "hunting" after all._ She paused to admire her surroundings; she had found a rather nice spot, just by the WindClan border and a small stream trickled past.

"I'll have to come here again," she muttered to herself. Wild jasmine grew up from amongst the roots of the great oak and ivy twined around its trunk.

"Right, better get moving."

Amberpaw clambered to her paws, all of her senses alert. Under the cover of the trees, she could scent a squirrel. She swiped her tongue around her jaws in anticipation of the kill and skulked forward into the shadows, "Squirrel, prepare to _die,_" she muttered.

The apprentice's grey-and-white pelt was swallowed up by shadows as she stalked forwards, ears pricked and being sure to tread lightly. The squirrel came into focus up ahead and Amberpaw took a deep breath, before continuing to tread closer.

She regulated her breathing, stepping ever closer to the oblivious brown-furred creature. The squirrel was nibbling at a small acorn by the looks of it. It was only when a blur of grey and white flew towards it that it finally looked up.

But it was too late.

Before the squirrel could run, it was dead in Amberpaw's paws. She purred, licking the blood from around her jaws.

"Nice catch."

The grey-and-white apprentice jumped, heart racing. But when she looked up, she let out a sigh of relief and let her neck fur lie flat. It was Molespots.

"T-thanks," Amberpaw meowed shyly, staring down at her paws.

Molespots stepped forward and sniffed the squirrel, amber eyes glittering, "I'm sure Cinderheart would appreciate this," he meowed, prodding the limp body, "Or one of the elders."

Amberpaw nodded, picking up the squirrel in her jaws.

"I was hoping I'd find you," Molespots meowed, gazing at her with warm amber eyes.

The apprentice's heart skipped a beat, _he was looking for me!_ Collecting herself, she took a deep breath and tried to meow "Really?", but instead it came out with a muffled, "Rully?" embarrassed, she dropped the squirrel, spitting out the fur and cleared her throat, "I meant, really?"

Molespots laughed, "Yes, Squirrelflight and Snowpaw were worried, so they asked me to come looking for you, but I can see that you're fine," he meowed, looking her up and down.

Amberpaw's heart sank. He hadn't really missed her or been wondering where she was, he'd just been _told _to come and look for her. Taking a deep breath, she managed to stop an "Oh" slipping out.

She picked up the squirrel, dipping her head to the young warrior before leading the way back to camp. Molespots fell in beside her, "You okay?"

Amberpaw nodded, but didn't bother speaking. The squirrel would have muffled any words she had to say anyway, so there was no point.

Tail drooping and ears flattened against her head, it was probably hard to believe that Amberpaw was all right, but Molespots sensed she didn't want to be pestered and instead changed the subject, "Just a few moons or so until you're a warrior, then?"

Amberpaw stopped. She hadn't really been keeping track of how long she'd been an apprentice, but thinking about it, it had to have been about three moons ago now, which meant she only had three more moons of training.

They arrived at camp just over five minutes later. Amberpaw quickly dropped her catch on the fresh-kill pile, her amber eyes briefly glancing over at Molespots before looking away.

The brown-and-cream tom had bounded over to his sister Cherryflower and was talking with her. The light ginger she-cat looked very pleased with herself for some reason.

Amberpaw shook away the thoughts and padded over to greet her own brother, Snowpaw, who was talking with Dewpaw. The dark grey tom looked very unimpressed and Amberpaw guessed that Snowpaw had been trying to persuade him he was one of the prophecy.

As soon as the grey-and-white she-cat approached the two, Dewpaw darted away, probably having decided he'd had enough of the prophecy for one day.

Amberpaw watched as he stormed off, something which he seemed to do a lot, in the direction of the Thorn Barrier. Silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Snowpaw spoke, "So, where were you?"

Amberpaw glanced around to check if anyone could hear their conversation, "I went to the Moonpool," she hissed under her breath, "I asked StarClan about the prophecy."

Snowpaw's pool-like amber eyes widened, "Really?" he meowed, raising his voice, before realising he'd been a little too loud and clamping his jaws shut, "Sorry."

Amberpaw chuckled before letting her expression fall solemn, "Lionheart spoke to me, you know, Greystripe's mentor."

"WOW!" Snowpaw burst out, trembling with excitement, "What did he say?"

Amberpaw shot him a glare, "Shhh! Or someone might hear us," she cast a glance over her shoulder at Cherryflower and Molespots, who were now sharing tongues, "He told me that we _are _the ones mentioned in the prophecy, but he couldn't tell us what it meant. Oh! And he said that Dewpaw would realise his destiny soon, which is good," she meowed with a smile.

Snowpaw cocked his head to one side, "Definitely," he paused, "We'll have to try and talk with him tomorrow, the sooner we get him in on this, the better."

Amberpaw nodded, amber gaze a little distant. She was lost in thought when Cherryflower bounded over, amber eyes gleaming, "Guess what?"

A little dazed, Amberpaw stared blankly at the ginger she-cat for a second. She wasn't particularly interested in what the warrior had to say as she had much more serious things on her mind, but she played along, "What?"

Snowpaw was watching the ginger warrior with excited amber eyes. The snowy white tom was probably still getting over the fact that the legend that was Lionheart had spoken to his sister.

"I'm expecting kits!" Cherryflower squeaked, amber eyes dancing with excitement.

Amberpaw's eyes lit up, "That's great news!" new kits meant more warriors for ThunderClan, which was great.

Snowpaw purred, "Who's the lucky father then?"

Cherryflower suddenly fell silent, her amber gaze dull, "Well, uh, that doesn't really matter does it?" a little put off she meowed a farewell, before disappearing off in Berrynose's direction.

Amberpaw raised an eye, "I didn't know Cherryflower had a mate."

Snowpaw stared at her for a few seconds, "Perhaps he's like a loner or a super evil cat!"

Amberpaw shot her brother a glare, "I doubt it," she meowed before changing the subject, "So, we'll try again with Dewpaw tomorrow then? There's only so long he can ignore the prophecy for."

Snowpaw nodded, "Yup. Perhaps after training?"

The white-patched grey she-cat smiled, "You can't outrun your destiny, Dewpaw must come to realise that sooner or later."

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**Well, thanks for reading! I wonder who the father of Cherryflower's kits is and I wonder why she's hiding it. Hmmm... xD Read and Review, you know I love it! **

**Leafsplash, over and out.**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Blood Spilled

**It's a battle! Hurrah! Forgot to mention in a couple of my last chapters, but I don't own Warriors.**

**FlyingOranges76 - Berrynose is Cherryflower's father. xD That would be really scary if he was the father of her kits. Already got chapter 15 written and will probably be updating more regularly from now on.**

**Hannah - Dewpaw is starting to soften a little, there's only so long he can deny his destiny. I'll say no more...**

**icefire - Yup, I'm british and proud! We're amazing. xD Just kidding, although we are awesome. Oh and thanks for the feedback, Amberpaw's maturing so I kinda want her to say more mature stuff. And also, it makes a good quote for the future. I don't want to tell you why I really made her say that because that would spoil loads.**

**Raggedstar 3 - Well, in the next chapter you find out the father, I hope you'll be pleased. And I know Cherryflower's young, but did you know that she and Molespots were actually made apprentices when they were a year old, six moons too late? So by the time they're warriors, they about a year and a half so now she's about 2 years old.**

**Read and review! I reached 50 reviews! Wooo!**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

Snowpaw had been picked for the ShadowClan border patrol. There'd been a lot of interest about ShadowClan, with both their leader and deputy being dead.

Bramblestar had announced it to the clan and ever since there had been many suggestions to whom the next leader may be. Many had suggested Toadfoot, though he hadn't mentored an apprentice so Snowpaw didn't think it would be him.

"Snowpaw! Wakey wakey, we're leaving in a minute!" Icecloud's mew jerked him from his thoughts and he sat up straight, amber gaze alert.

"Sorry," he mumbled, stretching and getting to his paws. He scrambled over to where his mentor sat with the rest of the patrol, which consisted of Birchfall, Blossomfall, Brackenfur and of course Icecloud and himself.

"Right then," Brackenfur's meow cut through the silence, "We'd best get going then," his amber gaze swept over the patrol, "Remember, we must be alert. With a new leader, ShadowClan may try to claim more territory for themselves."

The snow-furred apprentice nodded, the others did the same. Brackenfur smiled, nodding to Squirrelflight who was sat up on the highledge, before disappearing through the Thorn Barrier

Snowpaw followed eagerly, Icecloud on his tail. Birchfall and Blossomfall followed. There was a sort of tension in the air, there had been on every ShadowClan border patrol since they'd found out ShadowClan's leader and deputy were dead.

No one knew why they had died though. Bramblestar did, and Dovewing did, of course, because they had been the ones to find out the news, but they hadn't shared it with anyone. _Perhaps it's the dark forest, reborn! Or Sol, the evil cat for nursery tales that Brightheart told me about._

He shook the thoughts from his mind, suddenly realising that Icecloud had muttered something to him, "Sorry, what was that?"

Icecloud chuckled and cuffed him gently by the ears, "Still asleep are you? Well, we need to be alert, because just because ShadowClan haven't launched an attack yet, doesn't mean they won't."

Snowpaw opened his jaws to protest, "I was just thinking about what killed Blackstar and Rowanclaw, I hope it doesn't come and kill us or RiverClan or WindClan even!" since the battle against the dark forest, there had been peace between the clans and Snowpaw certainly didn't want any pain to come to his friends in RiverClan, Rainpaw and Rapidpaw.

Icecloud stiffened at the mention of the other clans, "I'm sure it's nothing, otherwise Bramblestar would have told us," she meowed, dismissing the subject with a flick of her fluffy, white tail.

But Snowpaw persisted, "Unless Bramblestar doesn't know," he meowed thoughtfully, amber eyes growing distant once again.

"Stop fantasising!" Icecloud snapped, "We're on a patrol, we need to be alert! If it really was dangerous, Bramblestar would have told us."

Snowpaw shivered at Icecloud's sudden burst of anger. His mentor had been behaving a little strangely over the last few days; she could suddenly go from being as happy as an expectant mother to a fierce badger.

Icecloud wasn't normally like this, she was usually eager and friendly, and perhaps a little easily excited. _What's up with her?_

"Sorry," he mumbled, amber eyes clouding with hurt. Although he knew she didn't really mean her words, it hurt to have his mentor snap at him.

"Quiet!" Birchfall's hiss sounded from up ahead. Snowpaw glanced up, all sense alert.

The ShadowClan border was up ahead and sniffing the air, the white-furred apprentice could smell an unusually strong ShadowClan scent. Automatically, he unsheathed his claws and his amber eyes narrowed to slits.

The patrol stopped and all fell silent apart from hostile mews ahead.

"Hah! ThunderClan don't even have the courage to show their faces!"

"ShadowClan need more territory to feed our growing numbers."

Snowpaw stiffened, white pelt bristling with fury. Brackenfur hissed under his breath, "Under my command, we attack. Birchfall, you're fast, get reinforcements from camp."

Birchfall dipped his head and darted away back in the direction of camp. All eyes fell upon the ShadowClan patrol as they marked a new border, Snowpaw took a deep breath. He wasn't overly keen on fighting, but he had to admit, this infuriated him.

Stinky ShadowClan warriors were trampling over their territory and spraying their scent everywhere, Snowpaw hated it. Brackenfur nodded to the warriors before him, "Three, two"-

Snowpaw didn't hear Brackenfur say one, the next thing he knew, yowls erupted from their patrol as they leapt out of the undergrowth and launched themselves at the intruders.

Snowpaw quickly spotted a ShadowClan apprentice, whom he recognised as Shadepaw. Letting out a yowl of defiance, he threw himself onto the pale grey tom.

The ShadowClan apprentice's eyes stretched wide with shock, before narrowing to slits, "Come to defend your territory, you mangy excuse for a cat," he hissed, shaking off Snowpaw.

The snowy-white tom growled, "Don't you dare call me that!" he screeched, lashing out at the pale grey apprentice's ears. Shadepaw was too slow in reacting, resulting in a hiss of pain as blood dripped from his wound.

Snowpaw shook the blood from his claws which was a mistake as in the time taken to deposit the ShadowClan blood on the ground, Shadepaw leapt at him, claws unsheathed and pale grey pelt bristling with fury.

"Feel my wrath!" he screeched as he charged towards him and let out a furious flurry of attack. He was so quick, Snowpaw could hardly contemplate what was happening. He tried to fight back, but he could feel the blood draining from his body.

Shadepaw paused his attack and determinedly, Snowpaw forced himself to his paws. Blood oozed from his wounds, but he forced a grin before leaping at the pale grey tom.

Shadepaw sniggered, shaking him off easily, "ThunderClan are weak. They always have been. You're full of kittypets, just look at you!" he beckoned to the battle around them.

Blossomfall was fighting a dark grey tom, Icecloud was tussling with two ShadowClan warriors and Brackenfur was wrestling a scarred brown tom.

Snowpaw let out a ragged breath, "We are not weak!" he hissed, summoning every remaining strength from his body and lunging at the pale grey tom. His claws dug into the ShadowClan apprentice's flesh and Shadepaw let out a yowl.

The next thing Snowpaw knew, everything went blurry. He saw a dark grey pelt race to his side and attack Shadepaw, "DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY BROTHER!"

Snowpaw smiled weakly as he fell to the ground. Dewpaw, "Thank you," he whispered, before the whole world turned black.

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

Snowpaw collapsed and instantly the dark grey tom's body boiled with rage. Had that mouse-brained excuse for a warrior just killed his brother. He glanced down at Snowpaw's body, before preparing to face the light grey apprentice again.

Shadepaw smiled an evil smile, "I hurt your brother, I can do the same for you," he hissed.

"I think not!" Dewpaw snarled, lip curling to show his pure-white teeth, unstained with blood, "I'll kill you if I have to," and with that, he threw himself at Shadepaw. Razor-sharp claws cut through flesh and a pain-stricken cry broke out from Shadepaw.

"You, mouse-dung, you foxed-brained coward, you"- the ShadowClan apprentice's hiss was cut off as Dewpaw spotted Shadepaw's soft underbelly unprotected. He raked his claws cross it, flesh tearing and blood welling up from the wounds. Shadepaw fell to his paws.

Dewpaw slit his throat and blood gurgled up from the pale grey apprentice's throat. He fell limp and not even a breath stirred his body. He was dead.

Dewpaw had killed. _An honourable warrior does not need to kill to win his battles._ The words of the warrior code flew through his mind and Dewpaw took a deep breath before staring down at the body again to check it had really just happened.

Shadepaw's body was as limp as ever. The ShadowClan patrol were outnumbered by now as Birchfall had raced to camp to fetch reinforcements, Dewpaw being one of them.

The ShadowClan warriors started to retreat backwards and a yowl sounded from Ratscar, "Crowstar will avenge this defeat!" and with that, the ShadowClan warriors hurtled back towards their territory. _Crowstar, Crowfrost; ShadowClan's new leader. _The ThunderClan warriors watched as they fled, but Dewpaw wasn't amongst them, he was at his brother's side.

Small, shallow breaths stirred the otherwise lifeless white form, "He's not dead, he's not dead," he whispered, joy overwhelming him. But Snowpaw was still in a critical state, as was Dustpelt.

The senior warrior still refused to join the Elders' Den, despite being one of the oldest cats in the clans. The dark brown tabby tom had decided to fight and no one had been able to stop him, _perhaps the mouse-brain will finally decide it's time to retire?_

Blossomfall raced over to Dewpaw, her amber gaze falling upon Snowpaw's almost limp body, "We must bring him back to camp, Jayfeather may be able to save him," she muttered hurriedly, gently lifting the white apprentice.

Dewpaw aided her, taking Snowpaw's other side. They were soon joined by Birchfall and together they carried him back to camp. They walked in silence, no one dared utter a word.

Snowpaw was in a critical state, everyone knew that and Birchfall ran ahead to go and let Jayfeather know and so as soon as they got to the hollow, the blind medicine cat came running out.

"Everybody, go away and give me and the patient some space," he meowed after the warriors set down the snowy-furred tom in his den. Everyone but Dewpaw left; the dark grey tom didn't see why he should leave his brother when he was in such a state.

"Leave!" the blind medicine cat hissed, "He's more likely to heal if I get some space!" his grey fur bristled as he spat the words, blind blue eyes glaring at him.

Dewpaw rolled his eyes; _Jayfeather could be so grumpy sometimes! _He thought with a hiss, "Fine," he glared at the medicine cat for a second before letting his amber gaze fall to Snowpaw, _What if he dies?_ He shook the thought away, _No, StarClan forbid._

He padded out of the den and immediately Amberpaw raced over him, "I heard about the battle," she meowed breathlessly, "Is Snowpaw going to die? He's not going to die is he, he can't die!" she wailed, amber eyes clouding with grief.

"Snap out of it!" he hissed, "We must be strong for him, otherwise he could die. So let's concentrate on the positives."

Amberpaw stared at him, "What positives?" she asked, staring down at the ground, amber gaze distant. Snowpaw and Amberpaw were very close, so Dewpaw couldn't even contemplate how worried she must be. He hadn't even been very close to his brother and he was worried sick.

"We won the battle for instance," he meowed, amber eyes clouding as he thought, "And we now know who ShadowClan's new leader is."

Amberpaw's jaw dropped and her amber eyes stretched wide, "Really? Who?" she asked, suddenly brightening. Just as any other cat, she'd been curious to find out what would become of ShadowClan now that Blackstar and Rowanclaw were dead.

"Crowfrost, well Crowstar," he meowed smugly, sitting up tall. He couldn't get his mind off Snowpaw, and the cat who had caused his wounds. He glanced around anxiously before mewing to Amberpaw, "But, I, err. I killed a cat."

His sister's eyes stretched wider than Dewpaw though possible, "You _what?!_" she hissed, amber eyes blazing, "But, that's breaking the warrior code."

Dewpaw stared down at his paws shamefully, "I-I know, I didn't mean it. It was Shadepaw, the cat who caused all of Snowpaw's wounds," he managed to meet his sister's gaze briefly, "But had I not stopped him, he would have killed Snowpaw."

Amberpaw stared at him for a second, amber eyes blazing, but then she managed to control herself, "I won't tell anyone," she whispered, "You were protecting your brother, your clanmate, it's not your fault," she paused, "I would have done the same."

Dewpaw let out a sigh of relief, "You won't tell anyone? Thank you, thank you!" he nuzzled his sister affectionately. Caught off guard by this sudden rush of affection, Amberpaw took a step back.

"Just don't do it again, I don't want you turning into Tigerstar," she spoke the words in a playful way, but her amber eyes swam with worry and a more serious emotion. Nerves.

_Is she worried I'll turn into a murderer? Oh StarClan, I wouldn't do that!_

He looked away from her all-seeing amber eyes, "No, I'm no Tigerstar," he meowed. He didn't want his destiny to be anything like such a cat.

He and Amberpaw locked gazes for a second before the grey-and-white she-cat spoke up, "Good," she meowed. Dewpaw thought she was going to say something about the stupid prophecy, but she fell silent.

They waited for what felt like moons, outside the medicine cat's den. Cloudtail joined them at one point, as did Brightheart. But the next dawn, when Jayfeather emerged from his den, it was just Dewpaw and Amberpaw.

Jayfeather's blind blue eyes flashed with concern, "Would you like the good news or bad news?"

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**Muhaha! Cliffhanger. I feel so evil, hopefully this will encourage you to review. :) So, what did you think about Dewpaw killing Shadepaw?**

**Read and review please!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Truth and Forgiveness

**Sorry for the confusion with this upload! I accidentally uploaded the wrong one! Anyway, this is quite a sweet heart-warming chapter, a filler really.**

**The excitement will be building in the next few chapters and then it's book two! Hooray! I do not own Warriors. I will reveal the name of the next book next chapter. ^^**

**FlyingOranges76 - You will find out what happens to Snowpaw in this chappie... xD Toadfoot, perhaps... You will find out in this chapter who the father is.**

**XHeart of DarknessX - Yup, he's not all bad though.**

**icefire - xD Tawnypelt would be awesome as leader, but she might not be accepted being born of ThunderClan and I don't think she has the right qualities of a leader. Shadepaw isn't really evil, which is why it came across as forced. His father constantly told him how a warrior should be aggressive and rough, not soft. His father was quite evil, so he's just trying to please him.**

**Raggedstar 3 - :) Snowpaw's awesome.**

**Read and review! Thanks!**

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**Snowpaw's P.O.V.**

Night had only just fallen, the half-moon floating high in the jet-black sky. The stars weren't visible tonight due to the thick cloud of fog that hung over the lake.

Snowpaw yawned sleepily, peering out into the hollow from his nest in the Medicine Cat's Den. Jayfeather had gone to the medicine cat meeting tonight and so he had the den all to himself. He could still remember the battle, clear as ever; leaping at Shadepaw, the ShadowClan tom suddenly attacking him furiously, pain, so much pain and then everything fading to black.

Dewpaw had saved his life and had leapt into the battle to take his place. After the battle, Snowpaw had been in a critical state and no one, not even Jayfeather, knew whether he'd pull through. The snowy white tom had lost a lot of blood, way too much. Every now and then he'd wake up and feel so weak that he wanted to give up, but he didn't. He pulled through and he now held life onto life much more dearly.

The only evidence of the battle were the many scars and wounds that marked his otherwise pure white pelt. Jayfeather had delivered the bad news, that in the process of battle, Shadepaw had managed to cut off the tip of his right ear, but it was a small price to pay for his life.

He no longer ached so much, but he still had a way to go until he was healed. He had been in the medicine cat den for about half a moon now and Jayfeather had promised him that in about a quarter of a moon, he'd be back to apprentice duties.

ShadowClan hadn't launched another attempt to get more territory since the battle, but there was much tension between the two clans. ThunderClan had learnt that Crowfrost, now Crowstar, had named his deputy as Toadfoot, despite not having mentored an apprentice.

Snowpaw had heard that he was to be given an apprentice as soon as Pinenose's kits were old enough. He shook off the thoughts of ShadowClan and instead returned to peering out into the darkness of the hollow.

He could hear voices, which after a while he was able to distinguish as being Cherryflower and Molespots. The littermates were outside the nursery and Snowpaw was just able to make out their silhouettes as they sat in deep discussion.

Intrigued and eager to do something rather than lying about in his nest all day, he dragged himself closer and listened in.

"You still haven't told me." That was Molespots.

"Told you what?" Cherryflower replied, trying to dodge the question her brother was asking. Snowpaw could just make out Molespots giving her a playful nudge.

"You know, the father?"

Snowpaw's eyes brightened. He and Amberpaw had been wondering about whose kits the fluffy ginger queen was fathering. She was young to be expecting kits, but cats had delivered kits far younger and so Jayfeather wasn't about her.

Cherryflower took a shaky breath, "The father," she paused, "The father is a house cat. His name's Red."

Molespots stared at his sister, "A kittypet you mean? So you've been meeting a kittypet?"

Snowpaw listened, amber eyes stretched wide in disbelief. A kittypet! How could she!

"No, a house cat," Cherryflower meowed, looking away, "He's really kind and gentle and sweet, but he's also really brave and noble. He wants to come to the clans and help raise our kits, but his twolegs never let him out of the horseplace."

"So you've been going to the horseplace to meet him?"

Cherryflower nodded, "Please don't be mad. I know, I've broken the warrior code, but I love him and there just isn't a cat in the world like him. Not in ThunderClan, not any clan."

Molespots sighed, "I'm sorry, I won't tell anyone, but you have to stop meeting him."  
Cherryflower stared down at her paws, "I'll try, but he'll worry about me and"-

Molespots covered her jaws with his tail, "Hush, you're expecting kits, you need to get your sleep."

Snowpaw didn't catch the rest of their conversation, because a cat had entered the den. He frowned; who could be up at this time, besides himself, Cherryflower and Molespots of course.

"Snowpaw?" a familiar mew sounded. Snowpaw's heart fluttered as a pale ginger she-cat stepped into the pale moonlight. Seedflight.

"Here," he meowed, flicking his tail. Seedflight quickly spotted his white form and padded over.

"Are you ok?" she asked, voice thick with concern, "I thought you might be lonely with Jayfeather at the medicine cat meeting and Briarlight"- she trailed off, green eyes clouding with grief. The dark brown she-cat had caught a strange disease a quarter-moon ago and passed on to StarClan.

"Thanks," Snowpaw meowed, his tone unusually soft, "I feel much better now, only a quarter of a moon until I'm back on apprentice duties."

Seedflight rest her tail on his flank, Snowpaw's heart skipped a beat, "Good." There was a silence as both cats got lost in their thoughts before Seedflight edged closer to the snow-white tom and clambered into his nest.

"You're cold," she whispered, pressing her soft, pale ginger fur against his snowy white one. Snowpaw shivered, but not of cold, but a mixture of happiness and hope. _Am I dreaming?_

He shook the question away, his imagination would never be able to conjure up such a moment, no, this was real.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Seedflight asked, pressing herself even closer to the white apprentice.

"I'm fine," Snowpaw murmured softly, treasuring her warmth, her words and counting every movement she made, "I'm more than fine."

Seedflight seemed satisfied and let out a soft, soothing purr. That was the last thing he heard, her soft purr, as he drifted into sleep.

Snowpaw woke to dawn and a warm pelt beside his. Seedflight. All the memories of the previous night came flooding back, of the kittypet who was the father of Cherryflower's kits and then of course, his precious moments with Seedflight.

He blinked, just to double check it hadn't been a dream and that everything really had just happened. When he opened them again, Seedflight was still there, as was Jayfeather.

The blind grey tabby had returned very late last night and had been very amused to find Snowpaw and Seedflight sharing a nest. The young warrior's head rested on Snowpaw's back and he had to prod her a few times before she awoke.

Blinking open her eyes, Snowpaw found himself getting lost in her gaze. Her eyes were a bright, vibrant green colour and reminded the apprentice of the forest in Green-leaf for such warmth and light they brought.

"Morning," she whispered softly, slowly rising to her paws. Snowpaw didn't get the chance to reply, for Bramblestar's yowl sounded.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highledge for a clan meeting!"

Seedflight smiled at the white apprentice, "Let's go see what's going on," she mewed, touching her tail to his shoulder and leading the way out of the den.

Due to his injuries, Snowpaw was much slower than normal and ambled after her, amber eyes glowing with warmth. Seedflight sat below the Highledge, waiting for him to join her.

Snowpaw padded over, limping a little at the small pain that shot through his right hind leg. Upon reaching her, he carefully lowered himself, Seedflight watching to make sure he didn't injure himself further or open up his wounds.

Much of the clan were already gathered, although several cats looked like they could fall asleep any moment. "Why does Bramblestar have to call his clan meetings so early?" he heard Dewpaw moan. For a brief space of time, the dark grey tom had actually been bearable, caring even.

But now that Snowpaw was almost healed, he was back to his normal, grumpy self.

"I can announce that Squirrelflight is expecting my kits!" he announced, his meow strong with pride, "Until she can resume her duties Lionblaze will be deputy!"

The fore mention golden tabby looked up, surprise lighting his amber eyes. Bramblestar had made a wise choice; Lionblaze was bound to become deputy one day, being perfectly suited to leadership, and being deputy for a few moons would be good experience for him.

"Lionblaze! Lionblaze!"

"Also," Bramblestar continued, beckoning with his tail for the cheering to die down, "I have a special ceremony to conduct, that should have been done a while ago, Leafpool, step forward."

The clan hushed in surprise, but then mews of happiness arose. Snowpaw wasn't quite sure what Bramblestar was doing, but he guessed it was good.

Leafpool had betrayed her clan by taking a mate when she was a medicine cat. Even worse, he was from a different clan. They had kits, Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf, who had died in the great battle, and then Leafpool had given them to her sister, Squirrelflight.

Squirreflight had told the whole clan they were her kits, even her mate. But then, Ashfur found out the truth, along with Hollyleaf, Jayfeather and Lionblaze.

Worried Ashfur would tell the clans of their half-clan heritage, Hollyleaf murdered him and then told all of the clans of their parentage at the gathering, under the full moon.

Leafpool had been forced to become a warrior, stepping down from her role as medicine cat and becoming just a normal warrior.

"StarClan, I ask you to look down on this warrior," Bramblestar continued, voice echoing throughout the hollow, "Although she has broken the noble code, of which we chose to live our lives by, she has lived out her punishment. She has not complained once and has seen many hardships in order to get to where she is today. I ask you to forgive her wrongdoings as I reappoint her as Leafpool, medicine cat of ThunderClan!"

Many moons ago, cats would have protested if Leafpool had been reappointed as medicine cat, but nothing but warm congratulations arose from the gathered cats.

"Leafpool! Leafpool! Leafpool!" Squirreflight began to chant, green eyes glowing with pride.

Snowpaw joined in, "Leafpool! Leafpool! Leafpool!"

The chanting of the two cats continued for a moment until Seedflight joined. Then suddenly the whole clan was chanting the name of the medicine cat.

"I guess I go back to being medicine cat apprentice," Snowpaw heard Jayfeather meow playfully to Lionblaze.

The golden tabby tom smiled, "I'm _proud _to call her my mother."

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**Thanks for reading, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! :) It makes me a happy butterfly.**

**Happy easter by the way -noms on Mini Eggs- I LOVE mini eggs, I even have a mini eggs t-shirt. xD**

**Leafsplash, over and out!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Admitting

**Well, I apologise for the shortness. The chapters will be getting longer soon, especially in the next book, which I can reveal will be named... -drum roll- A Journey. Very original right? xD**

**All these reviews are making me happy. :3 I do not own Warriors (although I wish I did).**

**Hannah - SnowxSeed are one of the cutest couples I think but the best is yet to come, and to the most unassuming cats. :) Bramble and Squirrel's kits will be awesome, I've already decided on their appearances and personalities, I think you'll be pleased. ^_^**

**FlyingOranges76 - :) Leafpool is a much better medicine cat than Jayfeather, in my opinion, and she's suffered long enough, so I _had _to make her med. cat again. :D xD**

**icefire - Crowstar. Muhahaha! Dewpaw killed the leader's son. xD Crowstar is a nasty piece of work.**

**Raggedstar 3 - I would never be able to bring myself to kill Snowpaw, he's my favourite. 3 He he, glad to hear that my writing is good enough to make people drool. xD**

**ia the owl - Thank you for your feedback. In the next book onwards there will be LOTS of death and blood, sadly. And also, if you think this is rubbish, then could you be a bit more specific on how I could improve? By doing that, I can improve.**

**That review kind of upset me. D: I feel sad now and unmotivated.**

**Raggedstar 3 - Thanks for your support. -hugs-**

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**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

Snowpaw had just been allowed to leave the medicine cat's den and was finally able to return to his apprentice duties. Dewpaw was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief; he'd been so worried about his brother when he'd been confined to the Medicine Cat's Den.

Training was going well for the dark grey tom; he and Birchfall got along a little better now and Dewpaw's superb fighting skills were starting to shine through. He was now known around camp for his battle prowess, something which he was proud of.

The moment when he'd killed Shadepaw haunted him, shadowing his every movement. It was like a dark cloud hanging over his head that only Amberpaw and himself could see, but he forced himself to ignore it.

Today had been just another training session; advanced battle skills with Birchfall, Lionblaze and Lilystream. To train under the watchful eye of Lionblaze, arguably the greatest warrior for his fighting skills in all of the clans, had been a great honour and at one point he had actually beaten Lilystream, his opponent. It had been a great day.

They were now on the way back from camp, jaws laden with prey from a quick hunt. Dewpaw wasn't best hunter, due to his large paws and large, sturdy build, but he had managed to catch a plump mouse, of which he was rather proud of.

The group walked in silence and Dewpaw used the silence as a good opportunity to note everyone's catches. Lionblaze had caught a mouse also, Lilystream was empty-pawed, but from Birchfall's jaws swayed a huge pigeon.

_Wow! Well done Birchfall!_ Dewpaw was glad that they were finally getting along a little better. From what he'd heard from Snowpaw, Icecloud had been all weird and snappy lately, _I'm glad she's not my mentor!_

They quickly reached camp at the fast pace which the leader of the group, Lionblaze, had set. Pushing through the Thorn Barrier, Dewpaw's keen amber eyes were immediately caught by the newly named Orangeflight. The former loner was talking with Mousewhisker, their pelts brushing ever so slightly.

Dewpaw rolled his eyes and set down his mouse on the fresh-kill pile. Prey was running well in ThunderClan at the moment, even the last leaf-bare hadn't been that bad.

Night was falling and with nothing else to do, Dewpaw made the open decision to go to his nest early. Birchfall was always lecturing him about how a good warrior must be well rested, _Well, Birchfall, I hope you're pleased, because for the first time in my life, I'm going to my nest early._

He strode into the den and quickly flopped down in his soft, mossy nest, which was to the rear of the den, away from the drafts. The only downside of having his nest there was that there was a tiny hole in the roof and so, if it rained, he could wake up to find his pelt uncomfortably damp.

Dewpaw lay in his nest for several moments, just staring up at the den's thick bramble walls and contemplating everything that had been going on recently in ThunderClan; Cinderheart's kitting, the battle and of course that stupid prophecy.

Snowpaw and Amberpaw were so mouse-brained to think that the prophecy was actually real and not just their imagination as Dewpaw though it was. Even worse, they were convinced that all three of them were involved in it.

He blinked sleepily, jaws parting in a yawn as he sunk deep into his nest. Warmth and tiredness succumbed him to sleep and the world faded to black.

When Dewpaw awoke, it wasn't to dawn light streaming into the Apprentices' Den. No, it was to a bright landscape instead. Tall, dark grey mountains jutted up from the ground, touching the sky with their jagged peaks.

The dark grey tom frowned, "Where am I?" he muttered, shaking his head. He was in a wildflower meadow he realised, staring down at his paws.

It was around sunrise, the sky being a bright golden colour. Several clouds of a bright amber colour drifted across towards the mountains.

Flurries of snow gave the whole landscape a sort of silver-white colour, but peering down at the grasses and flowers around him, he could see small droplets of moisture clinging to their petals and stems. _Dew, morning dew._

He swallowed nervously, the words of the prophecy haunting him. He stood there for a few moments, his restless amber gaze darting around his surroundings.

_The amber clouds, the falling snow and the morning dew._ He glanced down at the grasses and plants again to realise that the dew had gone.

The sky began to darken, dark grey, almost black clouds forming. The amber clouds were swept away and the falling snow disappeared into thin air as the rain fell.

And then all was silent. Dewpaw inclined his head as he let his eyes fall to the sky, "No, this can't happen."

The rain began to stop and the amber clouds returned. The snow began to fall once more and all of a sudden, the dew was reunited with the plants and flowers, bright red flowers.

"You have a lot to learn," a voice whispered in his ear.

Dewpaw jumped, startled, and spun around to find himself face to face with a small pale grey tom with white patches that looked startlingly like clouds. His eyes were huge and water-blue and clouded with wisdom beyond his moons.

"W-who are y-you?" Dewpaw stammered, taking a step away from the lithe grey tom. The cat gave a hearty laugh, his starry pelt rising and falling as he did so.

"My name is Cloudstar," he rasped, touching his tail to Dewpaw's shoulder, "I have travelled far to find you, from my skies to yours."

Dewpaw inclined his head, "You're not hear about that stupid prophecy are you?" he asked bluntly, shuffling uncomfortably.

"It's not stupid," Cloudstar snarled, blue eyes blazing, "In your paws, yours and your littermates' paws, you hold many lives. You are one of the prophecy, you must accept this!"

Dewpaw jumped at the lithe pale grey tom's sudden fierceness, "I'm sorry," he mewed sheepishly, staring down at his paws, "I though Amberpaw and Snowpaw had made it up."

Cloudstar bared his teeth, "Made up!" he hissed, "This is a serious matter! If you fail the prophecy, many cats will die. You will be haunted by their deaths, they will shadow your life. You will die and be forgotten by everyone you loved. You will be the nameless cat who caused so much suffering, so much death."

Dewpaw was quite unsure of what to say to the lithe pale grey tom's words and so he bowed his head in shame to the starry warrior, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. We don't even know what the prophecy means? Can't you tell us?"

Cloudstar rolled his eyes, his temper fading, "You must discover your destiny yourselves, StarClan will guide your paws, but they cannot tell you how to live your life."

Dewpaw didn't meet Cloudstar's fierce blue gaze, "But surely you can hint? You can tell us how to start?" he mewed hopefully.

Cloudstar bristled, "That's what the prophecy is! A hint, it tells you what you must do, you simply need to know how to read it, how to understand it."

Dewpaw sighed, admitting defeat. He didn't speak again, instead observing the pale grey tom. He could see dawn on the horizon, a pale glow.

Cloudstar sat up a little taller, "I must be going, I have a long journey ahead of me, just as you do," he meowed, "It's time for you to wake up."

"Hey," Dewpaw suddenly meowed as the tom began to stride away, "You never told me which clan you were in? Were you ThunderClan?"

Cloudstar paused. He seemed to be wondering whether to give away such a piece of information, "No, not ThunderClan," he chuckled, "I'm an ancient SkyClan leader," and with that, he disappeared.

_SkyClan? The clan Sandstorm told us about when we were kits? I thought that was just an elder's tale, a myth._ He curled up into a ball, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to wash over him.

_Wait, 'return the sky to it's original place'? SkyClan used to live with the other four clans, could that mean find SkyClan?_

Darkness flooded over the dark grey tom and he was left alone with his thoughts. _SkyClan, could it really be find SkyClan? _He blinked open his eyes sleepily, slowly succumbing to the bright light of dawn.

He spotted Amberpaw rising from her nest, her grey-and-white colour easily spotted in the dawn light, "Wait!" he called out just before she left the den.

His sister stopped and glanced over her shoulder, "What is it?" she asked, curiosity dancing in her bright amber eyes.

Dewpaw darted to her side, "I need to talk to you and Snowpaw," he meowed, glancing over his shoulder at where Snowpaw slept. The apprentice's white pelt seemed to glow in the light but his scars were still very evident.

Jayfeather had promised they would fade eventually, but it would take several moons. Snowpaw seemed to have heard his littermates' mews and was slowly awaking.

"What's going on?" he murmured sleepily, rising to weary paws. Snowpaw still looked very fragile and Dewpaw still cringed when he saw the missing tip of his ear.

Amberpaw glanced sideways at Dewpaw, "You can explain, we're alone in here after all. No need to whisper."

Dewpaw nodded. They were the only apprentices at the moment, Seedflight and Lilystream now sleeping in the Warriors' Den, "Well, you see, I had this dream."

A smug grin stretched across Amberpaw's face as if she already knew what he was about to say.

"I had this vision," he meowed. He explained the vision briefly, of the falling snow, amber clouds and morning dew. Amberpaw still had that stupid grin.

"And well," the dark grey apprentice continued, "I met this cat called Cloudstar, he told me I was one of the prophecy and that all of us were responsible for many lives, and then"- he broke off. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I asked him which clan he was from, just before I woke up, and he said"- he took another steady breath, "He said he was an ancient SkyClan leader."

Amberpaw gasped, the smug grin disappearing, "SkyClan! The clan Sandstorm told us about! Perhaps they're the"-

Dewpaw interrupted, "The sky, I know. I think I know what we have to do. We have to find SkyClan."

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**Read and review please! Reviewers get an Amberpaw plushy! xD**

**Leafsplash, over and out! -salutes then disappears- **


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Accusation

**Well, another gathering. I'll be going on holiday on Friday for a week, so I won't be able to update. I will probably will have started the next book by then. ^^ Anyway, I don't own Warriors, as you all know, Erin Hunter does.**

**FlyingOranges76 - Thanks, they will find SkyClan... with some difficulty. xD Leafstar isn't dead, but only has two lives left...**

**Raggedstar 3 - Yup, he's grey and white. :)**

**icefire - xD I felt the need for evilness in ShadowClan. I agree, my favourite clan is RiverClan, which is only just ahead of ThunderClan, then SkyClan, then ShadowClan and finally WindClan. -glares at Heathertail- Icecloud expecting kits? Perhaps, but not quite... It's something along those lines though, don't want to spoil anything.**

**Hannah - He he, Dewpaw's really stubborn and fun to write about. Yep, they'll be going on a journey, but it certainly won't be an easy one. There's one chapter left I think, I've almost finished writing it. :D**

**Read and Review! ^^**

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**Amberpaw's P.O.V.**

"Excellent work Amberpaw! You're turning into an exceptional warrior!"

Amberpaw ducked her head shyly, but her bright amber eyes flushed with pride. So far on today's training session, the grey-and-white patched she-cat had caught squirrel, two mice and a small sparrow.

Amberpaw wasn't an arrogant cat, but she was rather proud of her catches, as was Sorreltail it seemed. The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat padded over to her apprentice, amber eyes gleaming with satisfaction, "Come on, let's see if we can catch up with the ShadowClan border patrol, we can take these back to camp later," she beckoned with her tail to the small pile of prey.

Amberpaw nodded and began to dig a hole under a nearby ancient oak tree. Once deep enough, she placed inside the squirrel, mice and the sparrow, before covering over the hole with dirt and fallen leaves.

It was the gathering time, and with luck, Amberpaw would be invited. Her mentor was constantly praising her, so she had to go right?

Sorreltail gave a satisfied nod, "Good, let's go," she gave a sharp flick of her tail before darting ahead and leaping through the undergrowth. Amberpaw purred happily; though not the youngest of warriors, Sorreltail was still full of energy.

Shaking a leaf from her fur, she pelted after her mentor, amber eyes gleaming with excitement. A blur of grey and white, she quickly caught up with her mentor.

Amberpaw lifted her head to the sky and inhaled a deep breath. _ThunderClan patrol, consisting of Brackenfur, Spiderleg, Berrynose and Rosepetal._ She glanced sideways at her mentor; Sorreltail also seemed to have scented the patrol up ahead.

Amberpaw nodded to her mentor before darting ahead to join the patrol. She was greeted by a warm nod from Brackenfur, "Like to join the patrol?" he offered, amber eyes glittering.

Amberpaw smiled, "Yes please! Sorreltail's just coming," she glanced over her shoulder to see her mentor leaping out of the undergrowth, paws flying.

"Here I am," the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat purred, her amber gaze falling to her mate, "Had any trouble with ShadowClan so far? They haven't tried to steal more territory again have they?"

Spiderleg shook his head, "They're marked their borders though and their especially strong and seem to be more regular. I think they're trying to provoke us."

Amberpaw inclined her head, "Or maybe they're just trying to prove they're still strong after the battle," she suggested, amber gaze curious.

Berrynose shook his head, "No, ShadowClan are just trying to provoke us into another battle. They want to infuriate us, but it won't work," he meowed confidently.

Amberpaw rolled her eyes at Berrynose's complete and utter confidence. He could be such an arrogant furball, she didn't see why Poppyfrost loved him.

Sorreltail seemed to agree with the cream-furred tom though, "Probably," she mewed thoughtfully, amber gaze distant.

"Come on then," Berrynose hissed impatiently, "This is a border patrol, not a 'let's stop and chat' patrol," he flicked his tail sharply and began to pad forwards.

Sorreltail chuckled, rolling her eyes, "Young warriors think they know it all," she whispered to Brackenfur beside her. The gentle golden brown tom purred and pressed against her before following Berrynose.

Rosepetal followed the other warriors, Spiderleg on her heels. With a smile, Amberpaw raced after them.

Amberpaw was chosen to go to the gathering. The young apprentice couldn't quite believe it and was just as excited as her first gathering.

This was only her second gathering, the last one she hadn't been selected to come along on. Dewpaw had also been chosen to attend the gathering, but not Snowpaw. Jayfeather said that it being so soon after the battle, he didn't want to risk his wounds being opened up again.

The white tom had been very disappointed, but he understood why and had accepted Jayfeather's decision.

Unlike last time, ThunderClan reached the island first. Upon reaching the tree-bridge, Amberpaw was extra careful where to put her paws; she didn't want anyone having to save her.

She managed to make it safely across this time, but she could see Molespots watching her anxiously in the corner of her eye. She tried to ignore him, but she couldn't quite tear her amber gaze away from him as he made the crossing after her.

It was very different being in the clearing without the other clans. It felt so much bigger and more spacious! Amberpaw managed to snag a spot just below the tree in the centre which gave her the perfect view of the leaders', deputies' and medicine cats' spots.

_Now just to wait for the other clans._

Bramblestar had already leapt up onto the great tree, Lionblaze taking his place as deputy. The golden tabby looked a little uncomfortable in his new place whilst Leafpool looked absolutely delighted to be sitting in the place of ThunderClan's medicine cat.

_She deserves to be medicine cat. She had stayed loyal through thick and thin and even after she ran away with Crowfeather, she returned._ _All her decisions she made for a reason and she made sure that her kits had someone to love, even when she couldn't care for them herself._

Jayfeather looked a little put off at being a medicine cat _apprentice _once more, but Amberpaw knew he wasn't really that annoyed by it. He'd finally come to accept Leafpool as his mother and perhaps he even loved her?

Amberpaw's thoughts were torn away from her as the scent of RiverClan hit her nostrils. _Ah, company._ She glanced over at where the trees broke away to give a clear view of the tree-bridge.

Mistystar led her clan, looking strong as ever, her grey pelt glossy and sleek, despite her being rather old. In fact, the only sign of her age were the few white flecks that marked her muzzle and the wisdom that swum in her bright blue eyes.

Reedwhisker followed her closely, though Amberpaw noticed he looked rather glum, his grey eyes fixed on his paws. Shortly behind him was a light brown tom, who she remembered to be Grasspelt, and then his apprentice, Rapidpaw.

Upon spotting Amberpaw, Rapidpaw's amber eyes lit up and he darted over to her, "Hi!" he meowed enthusiastically, sitting down beside her.

"Hello," Amberpaw mewed calmly, "You know Snowpaw's not here, he's back in camp," she told him, assuming the pale brown-and-white tom was looking for her brother.

"I know, I'm not looking for Snowpaw," he meowed, then his eyes flashed with concern, "Wait, why's he back at camp? Has he been naughty or something?"

Amberpaw shook her head, "No, he got injured in a battle against ShadowClan, they tried to steal our territory," she glanced around the clearing, "You know their leader's Crows"-

"ShadowClan have arrived!" a black-and-white tom announced, striding rather overconfidently into the clearing. Crowstar. Amberpaw rolled her eyes at his confidence.

"Thank you for interrupting Crowstar," she mewed sarcastically, "Because we all know how ShadowClan is the best clan and blah de blah de blah."

Rapidpaw laughed at her comment until Crowstar padded over on his way to the great tree, "What you laughing at?" he hissed, amber eyes blazing and pelt bristling with fury.

"N-nothing," Rapidpaw stammered, shrinking and amber eyes filling with fear of the ShadowClan leader, "I-it's just s-s-something my friend said."

Crowstar gave him a harsh stare before flicking his tail and leaping up into the branches of the tree. _Rapidpaw, a friend? He's not my friend, he's in a different clan for StarClan's sake!_

Rapidpaw seemed rather shaken by his encounter with the ShadowClan leader and was cowering, shivering with shock at Crowstar's harsh words.

A scent of wind-blown grass and gorse hit Amberpaw. WindClan.

Onestar strode into the clearing, his warriors filing out behind him. The brown tabby tom looked very frail and every so often a hacking cough shook his chest.

Many of the WindClan warriors looked very concerned about their leader's condition, but Onestar ignored them and headed towards the tree. Weakly, he scrambled up the trunk and took his place on a branch, his pelt rather ruffled.

"Let the gathering begin!" Crowstar yowled, bringing the muttering of cats to silence, "ShadowClan will speak first!"

Amberpaw frowned, it was rather rude for the youngest leader to start of the gathering with his own clan's report. She soon shook away the thoughts though, as Crowstar was starting to speak again.

"Rogues attacked our camp about a moon ago, demanding us to give them territory," he began, voice calm, but with a sharp edge, "Blackstar was on his last life and was killed in the attack, as was Rowanclaw," he spat the name Rowanclaw, "It was a tragic loss of life, but StarClan sent a message to Littlecloud, telling him that I should be ShadowClan's new leader. I accepted the role and received my leader's name, Crowstar!"

_The arrogant furball. _A mixture of grieving and hopeful mews rippled amongst the gathered felines. Amberpaw joined in, but unwillingly.

"Thank you," Crowstar meowed, bowing his head, "Berrypaw had received her medicine cat and is now Berrywhisker. She is now our full medicine cat, Littlecloud having retired to the Elders' Den."

"Berrywhisker! Littlecloud! Berrywhisker! Littlecloud!"

"Snowbird has successfully birthed my kits, Nightkit and Mottlekit. Smallkit, Ravenkit and Thornkit are growing strong and it's not long before they are made apprentices," his amber gaze swept over the clans. Murmurs of congratulations out broke before he hushed them and spoke again, "But whilst new lives thrive and blossom in our clan, there is a great gap left from the death of a promising apprentice. Shadepaw, my son, was killed by a ThunderClan cat!" he yowled.

Amberpaw stiffened, amber eyes blazing. _He knows, he knows Dewpaw killed his son. _Her amber eyes sought out her brother, quickly finding him sat beside Blossomfall. He looked upset and was staring down at his paws shamefully.

"Crowstar," Bramblestar began calmly, "Firstly, you haven't explained the whole story and secondly, you have no right to accuse such a thing and under the full moon."

_Go Bramblestar!_

The dark brown tabby tom took a step forward, "I think it's best I explain this," he meowed, "Last moon, a patrol caught ShadowClan cats on our territory, remarking the border so they had more territory. The patrol attacked and one cat returned to camp to gain reinforcements. Although we won in the end, we almost lost an apprentice as well as a senior warrior having to retire to the Elders' Den due to injury," he mewed, obviously thinking of Dustpelt, "And the battle would never have happened had your warriors not tried to claim more territory for your clan, under your orders I'm informed."

With a dignified flick of the tail, he stepped back, expectant amber eyes falling upon the ShadowClan leader. Crowstar stepped forward, "Our clan is growing! We _need _more territory! And my proof as to a ThunderClan cat killing my son, I saw it with my own eyes."

_Oh StarClan, no._ Amberpaw's gaze locked with Dewpaw's before her brother looked away, obviously feeling very guilty.

Crowstar quickly picked out Dewpaw in amongst the ThunderClan cats, "Him!" he snarled, pointing to the dark grey tom, "He killed Shadepaw! He killed my son!"

Shocked mews arose from the clans.

_"And apprentice, killing another apprentice?!"_

_"Dewpaw's a mouse-brain, but he's not a murderer."_

_"He's half kittypet too!"_

_"Dewpaw wouldn't do that. He's a brave and loyal ThunderClan apprentice, and besides, I think he's kind of cute."_

Amberpaw frowned at the last comment, _cute? Really?_

Bramblestar managed to remain composed and flicked his tail towards the apprentice, "Dewpaw, I'm sure these claims aren't true, but anyhow, would you care explain your role in the battle?"

Dewpaw took a deep breath and nodded, he was shaking with fear, "It's true," he meowed, voice ringing out loud and clear, "I-I didn't mean to. I was in the second patrol and when I arrived, I spotted my brother, Snowpaw, fighting Shadepaw," he took another deep breath, "Snowpaw looked so weak! Shadepaw was much stronger and more skilled at fighting at him. So I leapt into battle and took Snowpaw's place just as he fell unconscious, due to loss of blood I think. I fought Shadepaw and then..." He broke off, "I thought he killed my brother. Shadepaw was also weak by then. One moment he was alive, then the next moment he was dead, my paws stained with his blood."

Amberpaw admired how her brother spoke so truthfully about the whole event. Bramblestar was deep in thought, "ThunderClan admires your honesty," he meowed before turning to Crowstar, "It was a mistake," he told him, "I'm sorry about the loss of your son, but it was simply an act of defence and protection to his brother."

Crowstar glared at Bramblestar, "Excuses," he hissed, "I will get my vengeance on your clan of kittypets, one day."

Bramblestar ignored Crowstar's threats, "ThunderClan will report now," he announced, unfazed by the ShadowClan leader's threats, "Cherryflower is expecting kits! Squirrelflight is expecting my kits! The deputy, until she resumes her position, is Lionblaze!"

"Cherryflower! Squirrelflight! Lionblaze! Cherryflower! Squirrelflight! Lionblaze!"

The clan cheered. Lionblaze was particularly popular amongst the other clans, presumably because he was one of the four. _I wonder how they'll react when they find out-_

"Also," Bramblestar interrupted Amberpaw's thoughts, "I have reappointed Leafpool as medicine cat. She has suffered as a warrior long enough for her wrongdoings and she is one of the most skilled medicine cat ThunderClan has ever had. ThunderClan is lucky to have such a skilled cat."

The reaction to Bramblestar's words were mixed. Many cats seemed upset by this, after all, Leafpool had betrayed her clan by taking a mate when she was medicine cat _and _he had been from another clan. However, many cats were supportive, including the medicine cats.

"Leafpool! Leafpool! Leafpool!" Crowfeather began to chant. Many WindClan cats watched him suspiciously, but joined in reluctantly.

Leafpool looked a little nervous, but her amber eyes glowed with pride.

"That is all ThunderClan has to report," Bramblestar meowed with a flick of his tail as he took a step backwards.

Onestar took his place next, "WindClan is stronger as ever!" he rasped, pausing to cough. _Strong?_ Amberpaw thought sarcastically, _The clan may be, but their leader certainly isn't._

"Heathertail has given birth to Harespring's kits; Falconkit, Eaglekit, Wildkit and Swiftkit! Rabbitkit, Strongkit and Mudkit are apprentices! Tinypaw is now Tinystep and"- he was interrupted by a hacking cough. He took a few moments to recover before continuing, "And Furzepelt has moved into the nursery expecting Crouchfoot's kits."

The WindClan leader stumbled backwards, "That is all."

Mistystar dipped her head to the WindClan leader, "Thank you for sharing your news with us," she meowed politely before announcing her own clan's news, "Cloudypaw and Goldenpaw are now Cloudysky and Goldenlight! Swankit and Sandykit are now apprentices, Swanpaw and Sandypaw!"

"Cloudysky! Goldenlight! Swanpaw! Sandypaw!" the clans chanted, rather unenthusiastically Amberpaw noted.

"And lastly," Mistystar meowed with a flick of her tail, "Reedwhisker has decided to step down from his position as deputy to become an elder. Our new deputy is Grasspelt!"

Sad murmurs arose from the clan mixed with enthusiastic chanting for the new deputy, "Reedwhisker! Grasspelt! Reedwhisker! Grasspelt!"

"Your mentor's deputy?" Amberpaw mewed quietly to Rapidpaw.

Rapidpaw nodded, amber eyes glowing with pride, "I'm the deputy's apprentice now," he mewed proudly.

_Exactly, your mentor's deputy. That's what I said._

The cats began to break away, Mistystar having finished her report with the news of Minnowtail expecting Mintfur's kits.

"Will you be at the next gathering?" Rapidpaw asked hopefully, amber eyes bright.

"With luck," Amberpaw replied simply, noticing that Bramblestar had started to lead ThunderClan away, "Got to go!" she mewed hurriedly, darting away.

_Well, that was an eventful gathering._

* * *

**Well, I apologise for Amberpaw, she's a bit moody and sarcastic in this character. She find Rapidpaw a bit annoying, which is funny 'cause he kinda has a crush on her. xD She's been a bit down since Molespots came to look for her after she visited the Moonpool, she thinks he doesn't like her.**

**Anyway, thoughts on this chapter? One more after this and then it's the second book! Desperately trying to write random stuff to make this chapter 3,000 words... Anyway, favourite shippings? AmberxMole, AmberxRapid (that one's hilarious, but Amberpaw certainly doesn't return the feelings), SnowxSeed or OrangexMouse?**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Discovery

**Well, this is the last chapter! I'll be posting the first chapter of the next book (allegiances and prologue) tomorrow under the title: ****_Blue Moon: Book Two: A Journey_**

**Bet you noticed the new cover! I made it myself and the featured cat is Amberpaw in case anyone was guessing. Feedback on it would be appreciated.**

**So, yeah... Be sure to check it out, that's where the real excitement begins. Just to let you guys know, there will be five books and they're each already fully-planned. :D**

**Three viewpoints in this one! Two of them are just one-offs and it is unlikely I will do them again, but I had to for this chapter.**

**Anyway, I do NOT own Warriors, no matter how many times I wish I did.**

**icefire - D'awww! Thank you, your support is really appreciated. I love AmberxMole and SeedxSnow, though a really awesome pairing will be coming up soon, starting at the end of the second book I believe? I love Reedwhisker, but he's almost as old as Bluestar, being born in Forest of Secrets!**

**Raggedstar 3 - Thanks -hugs- I love my reviewers and thanks for the feedback. This chapter will involve some of the minor characters, although In future I'll try to at least get a word out of each cat in the clan. :)**

**OoJayfeatheroO - He he, I love SnowxSeed.**

**coldgazeproduction - Am currently in the process of writing chapter one of the next book, I hope you'll like it! AmberxMole rock! As do SnowxSeed. :D**

**Hannah - I know right? Amberpaw's really got her heart set on Molespots though, but I CAN promise there will be a lot of AmberxRapid later on in the second or third book I think?**

**He he. It's funny how I talk so easily about these pairings, yet some of them I have already plotted how it ends. xD I feel evil. I have already planned the death of about 20 characters including a very humiliating one for Daisy. xD Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

**Dewpaw's P.O.V.**

It wasn't the same since the gathering. Everyone knew he had killed Shadepaw, the ShadowClan leader's son, and they seemed to look at him differently now.

_I didn't mean it,_ He thought hopelessly as he padded towards the abandoned twoleg nest where he was meeting Amberpaw and Snowpaw, _I'd do anything to go back and change it all._

But his clanmates didn't see him that way. He shook the thoughts away, he needed to try and work out what the rest of the prophecy meant.

That was the whole reason why he was meeting his littermates. They'd chosen the abandoned twoleg nest because it was secluded and it was unlikely that anyone would overhear their words.

Dewpaw wasn't even quite sure if they were supposed to keep the prophecy a secret, but it was better safe than sorry.

Arriving at the twoleg nest, he was pleased to find that Snowpaw and Amberpaw were already there, sat together under a tall barrier sort of thing. _What does Millie call it? A brick wall or a fence?_

He bounded over to greet his brother and sister, amber eyes glowing in the fading light. It was late sunhigh and the sun was starting to sink below the swath of dark green that was the forest.

"You came," Snowpaw meowed thoughtfully, "So you really believe in the prophecy now?"

Dewpaw nodded furiously, "A StarClan member screamed at me that it was true and that I was part of it, so I think I believe in it," he mewed humorously.

Amberpaw chuckled before falling solemn, "So, we've worked out we need to go to the old forest and we need to find SkyClan, what else did Feathertail say?" she asked, turning to face the snowy-furred apprentice beside her.

"'_Four will spread its roots to five', _perhaps that means four cats or"-

"The four clans!" Amberpaw suddenly meowed, amber eyes bright with enthusiasm, "There are four clans, perhaps it means the four clans will join together with the fifth clan!"

"StarClan?" Dewpaw asked, amber gaze blank.

"No, you mouse-brain," she meowed, affectionately thwacking him with her tail, "SkyClan!"

"'_And return the sky to its rightful place_,'" Snowpaw mewed thoughtfully, amber gaze distant. Dewpaw stared at him, chuckling softly to himself.

"SkyClan used to live amongst the other four clans, so perhaps 'its rightful place' is here by the lake, amongst the other clans? That also supports the theory that we have to join together with the fifth clan."

Dewpaw chuckled again, _Snowpaw was so serious and mature for his age._ Although what the white tom said sounded right, "Yes, but where would they have their territory?"

Amberpaw smiled, "That sounds about right!" she mewed brightly, "And as for that," she meowed, her attention drawing to the dark grey tom, "We can think about that later."

"So wait," Dewpaw meowed suddenly, "Us, three _apprentices,_ have to travel a great long journey to the gorge where SkyClan live, through the mountains and twolegplace? We don't even know how to get there, we don't know what it's like there and for StarClan's sake, _we're apprentices!_"

"Good point," Snowpaw meowed thoughtfully, "You just made it sound a lot harder."

"Well we've worked out what the prophecy means," Amberpaw meowed positively, "And StarClan must know we're up to the task if they sent us the prophecy."

"When do you say we go?" Snowpaw asked.

Amberpaw inclined her head, deep in thought "As soon as possible, perhaps in a moon?"

Snowpaw seemed satisfied and gave a nod. Dewpaw stared at his littermates, eyes wide, "A moon! That barely gives us time to prepare!"

"But SkyClan need us," Amberpaw pointed out, "Cats could be dying right now whilst we sit here."

Dewpaw sighed, "I guess."

"Come on," Snowpaw meowed, leaping to his paws, "Let's get back to camp."

Both Amberpaw and Dewpaw nodded in unison, both rising to their paws and following their brother back towards the safety of camp.

**Bramblestar's P.O.V.**

Bramblestar liked to sit up on the highledge, especially on days like this. It was hot and the sky was blue and clear, not a single rain cloud in sight. The sun's scorching rays heated his dark pelt as he on looked his clan below.

Cherryflower sat outside the nursery, watching as her two kits played. Lakekit and Redkit, both bundles of energy, had been born a half moon ago but were already annoying the elders and getting up to mischief like any other kit.

The pale ginger queen still hadn't revealed the father, not that it bothered Bramblestar. True, it intrigued him, but it was new blood for the clan and that was good.

Squirrelflight was also out and enjoying the sunshine, her belly well-rounded with his kits. The dark ginger queen was sprawled out lazily on a smooth boulder, lapping up the warmth. It must've been quite a contrast, Bramblestar realised, one moment you're deputy and up to your ears in duties, the next moment you're a queen and required to do nothing.

It was almost worth becoming a queen just so you wouldn't have to do anything he thought with a chuckle, stretching out in the sunshine.

His attention was drawn to the three apprentices, Amberpaw, Dewpaw and Snowpaw. They were all so different he thought with a sigh as he watched them muttering quietly as they huddled together to share a squirrel.

Dewpaw had been much better behaved since his outburst in his Apprentice Ceremony and his confinement to camp. They all had promise, their own strengths.

Leafpool had just emerged from the medicine cat den, a bundle of leaves swaying from her jaws. Bramblestar watched her curiously. It was great to have her back as medicine cat and he knew how much being medicine cat meant to her.

She padded over to Cherryflower and dropped the herb bundle down by the fluffy ginger queen's paws. Molespots sat beside his sister and was playing with the kits.

"Throw the moss ball! I want to try and catch it!" Redkit chirped enthusiastically, dancing from paw to paw.

Molespots chuckled, picking up the moss ball and throwing it in the direction of the dark fox-red tabby tom kit, letting out a laugh as the small kit tumbled after it.

"I can catch that!" another voice sounded as Pebblekit came darting out of the nursery, a flash of golden fur. He leapt after the moss ball and caught it easily in his jaws.

Bramblestar smiled, Pebblekit showed great promise. Perhaps even as good as his father? His littermates also seemed to be warrior material and were almost five moons.

His amber gaze trailed down to where Lionblaze sat, sharing tongues with Cinderheart. The other four kits tumbled around nearby. Honeykit, Puddlekit, Mosskit and Stormkit.

They appeared to be playing a role play of a battle.

"I'm Crowstar!" Puddlekit announced, puffing out his pale grey chest fur in pride, "I declare war on ThunderClan!"

"And I," Stormkit growled in mock fury, "As Bramblestar, will never let you hurt my clan! Take another step closer and I'll rip you to shreds!"

The real Bramblestar purred at the young kit's impression of himself. It was strange to see another cat trying to be him, _Am I really that serious all the time?_

"I am Toadfoot, deputy of ShadowClan and I promise to fight for my clan until the last breath in my body," Mosskit announced, sitting up tall and narrowing her eyes to slits when she looked at "Bramblestar".

"But you're a she-cat! Toadfoot's a tom," Stormkit pointed out, inclining his head to the right, "That doesn't work."

Mosskit shook her head, "It doesn't matter," she meowed stubbornly, not meeting her brother's intense blue gaze.

Puddlekit shrugged and all eyes fell on Honeykit, "I don't want to fight!" she squeaked, shrinking a little, "I don't like fighting, it's violent and causes unnecessary bloodshed."

All kits stared at her in confusion at her sudden mature words, "Every warrior likes to fight," Puddlekit mewed, before staring at her in a strange way, "You don't want to be a medicine cat do you?"

"Oh no!" Honeykit mewed, shaking her head, "I want to be a warrior! I would never be a medicine cat, all those ill and hurt cats," she wrinkled her nose up in disgust, "I just don't like fighting."

Puddlekit relaxed, "Well, seeing as you don't want to fight, why don't you go and play with Pebblekit, Redkit and Lakekit," he suggested as gently as he could.

Honeykit stared at him for a moment, before replying, "Okay, I guess," she darted away in the direction of her brother and the other two kits.

Bramblestar smiled, sitting up and smoothing down his dark brown tabby fur. Dovewing and Bumblestripe were sharing tongues just below the Highledge. The two cats had become mates just after the battle against the dark forest.

He smiled, "They seem to be finding love younger and younger," he purred amusedly. He settled himself down again and let his eyes wander the hollow.

Dovewing's sister, Ivypool, was sitting with Toadstep, their pelts ever so slightly brushing as they talked and enjoyed the sunlight. Apart from Mousewhisker and Berrynose, the camp was otherwise empty. Most warriors were out hunting, patrolling or simply enjoying the sunlight.

_I'm going to make the most of this day,_ he decided, scrambling to his paws and leaping off the highledge. He padded over to Squirrelflight and greeted her with a friendly nuzzle, "Should we go on a walk down to the lake?" he asked.

The former deputy smiled, returning the affectionate greeting, "I need to stretch my legs," she purred, "Yes, I'll come."

**Leafstar's P.O.V.**

Night had just fallen over the gorge. In a small cliff in the side of tall walls of stone, lay a brown-and-cream she-cat, her amber gaze clouded.

Her clan were experiencing tough times, with Twolegs building their nests all over the place. It wasn't in the forest itself, but the land just beyond the gorge, towards the old warehouse where the rats used to live.

The twolegs were scaring all the prey away and it was only so long until they discovered the SkyClan camp. _And what happens then? _The thought troubled her deeply.

Her dreams had been dark and more like nightmares lately; all except that one in which she scented ThunderClan scent. But that had been just over ten moons ago. _How much longer can my clan afford to wait? How many more lives can we afford to lose?_

Several of the daylight-warriors had made the leap and joined the clans as full warriors, but just a moon after joining, Macgyver had died of greencough. His best friend, Harveymoon, had been devastated. Sparrowpelt had also died after eating twoleg poison.

About a moon after becoming a warrior, Egg, had decided that SkyClan life wasn't for him.

Echosong had decided to retire to the Elders' Den and Frecklewish was now a permanent medicine cat. Patchfoot, Petalnose and Cherrytail had also retired recently. Leafstar herself was getting on in moons, she had two lives left and it wouldn't be too long until Sharpclaw took up the leadership of SkyClan.

_But will SkyClan still remain by then?_

Her clan had grown in numbers since Firestar and Sandstorm had visited, that seemed like so many seasons ago. Her kits were now warriors, strong, brave warriors.

"Leafstar," a voice whispered. The brown-and-cream she-cat looked up to see Billystorm peering in, "May I come in?" he asked.

Leafstar nodded, "Of course," she mewed softly, inhaling the sweet scent of her mate. Billystorm's kittypet days were distant now, the ginger-and-white tom was all warrior; nothing about him hinted that he had once been a kittypet.

The warrior weaved in beside his mate, pressing his soft fur against hers, "You know you don't need to ask to come in," she meowed gently, "You're my mate."

Billystorm lay down beside her, "I know," he answered simply, "It's just you've been distant lately."

Leafstar didn't reply for a while, her amber gaze clouding, "I'm exhausted, I'm going to go to sleep."

The ginger-and-white tom nodded, curling up beside her into a tight ball. Leafstar copied, slowly closing her eyes and letting exhaustion wash over her like waves of deep blue.

When Leafstar blinked open her eyes, she expected to find herself in her den, waking up to dawn's promising rays of sunlight, but instead she found herself in a thick, deciduous forest.

Beneath her paws was lush green grass, but she could sort of see through it to a starry sky. Everything else was the same, sort of transparent as well as glittering with starshine.

"This isn't like the skies that my SkyClan Ancestors roam," she muttered thoughtfully, stepping forward, "Perhaps I have found StarClan?"

"Indeed you have, Leafstar."

Leafstar stopped, heart beating faster than she thought possible. She looked up, amber eyes narrowed to slits, to see a bright ginger tom with a fiery orange pelt that looked rather like starshine clung to it.

"Firestar!" she bounded towards him and touched noses, "You came!"

Firestar smiled warmly, green eyes glowing, "Yes," he meowed calmly, his gaze seeing through the cream-and-brown leader.

"Wait," Leafstar suddenly meowed, "If you're hear… You must be _dead_," she uttered the last word as softly and quietly as possible.

"Yes," the ginger tom replied with a sigh, "I died about 10 moons ago, protecting my clan against the dark forest, but I can explain that whole thing to you later," he meowed, dismissing the subject with a flick of his fiery tail, "I'm here to tell you about something of much more importance than my death."

Leafstar nodded, swallowing the grief, _Firestar is dead._ She couldn't help but be sad, despite the fact that he was standing before her, looking strong as ever.

Firestar dipped his head before speaking to her, "StarClan are aware of your struggle, the clans too had to deal with twolegs building on our territory. We had to move away from the forest, travelling far to find our new home by the lake," he paused to survey her reaction to his words, "Several moons ago we sent a prophecy to three young apprentices of ThunderClan. They have been chosen as your saviours, the prophecy tells of them returning SkyClan to its original place, with the other four clans."

_Move to the lake? With the other four clans? _The thought frightened her, but she put on a brave face and nodded calmly to the former ThunderClan leader.

Firestar continued, "There is unclaimed territory just below the mountains near the lake, rocky like your territory here, you would have your territory there upon joining the other four clans."

Leafstar nodded, "Is this the only way?" she asked, amber eyes flooding with concern, "Won't the twolegs just stop building their twoleg nests at some points? Must we travel to unknown territory?"

The bright ginger tom shook his head grimly, "I'm afraid not, the reason I'm explaining this to you is to make your decision a lot easier, you don't have to move to the lake," he paused, "But it might be the only way to keep your clan safe."

Leafstar dipped her head, "Thank you Firestar, I appreciate your concern, but I need some time to think about this."

The StarClan warrior nodded, "Of course, but you must make your decision as quickly as possible. The three apprentices, I must tell you of them so you can find them easier."

Leafstar nodded politely, amber eyes calm.

"The firstborn," Firestar began with a smile, "Is Dewpaw. He's a dark grey tom, amber eyes. He has a sharp tongue, very stubborn, though an excellent fighter, he would make a good leader one day, if the time ever came," the ginger tom paused to take a breath, "Then there's the second one. Amberpaw, she's grey-and-white and has amber eyes, hence the name," he meowed with a chuckle, "She's much brighter than her brother, positive, enthusiastic and eager. She's very curious but doesn't really think things through. She can be very annoying though."

Leafstar nodded, making a mental note of the names and appearances.

"And finally, Snowpaw," Firestar mewed, purring, "He's a white tom, also with amber eyes. He's very intelligent, tends to be quite serious at times, though a lot of fun. He's also very eager and curious to know the answers to the many questions swimming around his head."

Leafstar bowed to the StarClan warrior, "Thank you for sharing this information with me, I will make sure that all my warriors are informed of what these cats look like so they can keep a look out."

Firestar smiled, "You have endured many hard times Leafstar," he meowed, touching his tail to her shoulder, "But your path isn't over yet, although hard, you must be strong for your clan."

"I understand, Firestar," she meowed with a dip of her head, "I will do my best."

* * *

**Well, how did you like Bramblestar and Leafstar's one off point of views? This is the last chapter of this book now, so next chapter will be the next book! When it's up, I'll post the link here, but again, it's called: _Blue Moon: Book Two: A Journey_**

**Anyway, read and review! You guys probably know by now how much I love and appreciate my reviewers, including ones with critiscm. It all makes be a better writer and motivates me to write faster.**

**Leafsplash, over and out! -salutes and poofs-**


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